1. Medusa
Carol Ann Duffy

2. Poem 1: “Medusa” by Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy is an award-winning Scottish poet who, according to Danette DiMarco in Mosaic, is the poet of “post-post war England: Thatcher’s England.” Duffy is best known for writing love poems that often take the form of monologues. Her verses, as an Economist reviewer described them, are typically “spoken in the voices of the urban disaffected, people on the margins of society who harbour resentments and grudges against the world.” Although she knew she was a lesbian since her days at St. Joseph’s convent school, her early love poems give no indication of her homosexuality; the object of love in her verses is someone whose gender is not specified. With her 1993 collection, Mean Time, and 1994’s Selected Poems, she would begin to also write about queer love. Duffy’s poetry has always been strong and feminist.
Read more here: duffye.

4. The Story of Medusa Explained

5. Let’s Listen to the Poem Read by Duffy…

6. Key Question: How does the form and structure of Duffy’s poem affect the reader’s understanding of Medusa’s thoughts?

7. Overview
Medusa is told in the first person as a dramatic monologue by a woman who is insecure and worried that her husband is cheating on her. The poem begins: ‘A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy’ and it is this jealousy which has turned the woman into a gorgon and now everything she looks at turns to stone. This feeling of doubt resonates throughout the poem, exemplified in the line, ‘but I know you’ll go, betray me, stray from home’.
Unlike our feelings towards the traditional monstrous character, this poem evokes empathy for the character as she is clearly distressed and suffering. Especially when she reminisces in the final stanza about the time she was young and beautiful, illustrating her complete lack of confidence. Nevertheless, she is still presented as a foul character who threatens the reader, with the line ‘Be terrified’. The poem also ends with the line ‘Look at me now’ which has a double entendre (double meaning). It could be read as a cry of despair or, as a threat – if you did look at Medusa you would die! This leaves the reader feeling conflicting emotions for the character, probably similar to how Medusa herself feels in the poem.

8. Form and Structure
The poem is written in free verse and as it progresses, the importance of the living things Medusa turns to stone increases, going from a bee to a dragon and then to her husband himself. The poem is divided into stanzas of mainly equal length, apart from the final line: ‘Look at me now’. This gives the poem a dramatic ending, leaving the reader unsure whether to feel threatened by or feel sorry for Medusa.
Is Medusa going mad? How does Duffy’s structure affect our understanding of this mythical monster?

9. Close Reading

11. Tasks - Write your Responses in Showbie
1. Summarise each stanza in a single sentence. What emotions are portrayed within each one?
2. Find the quote ‘So better by for me if you were stone’. Explain why Medusa feels it would be better. Use a quotation in your answer.
3. Look at the imagery in stanza 4 and 5. Explain why Duffy has structured the text so that the objects she turns to stone get larger and larger.
4. What do you notice about the length of the stanzas? How does this affect our understanding of Medusa’s state of mind?
5. Why might Duffy have chosen to use free­ verse as the form of this poem?
6. What type of conflict does Duffy explore? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
7. Extended writing question: How does the form and structure of Duffy’s poem affect the reader’s understanding of Medusa’s thoughts? Write your answer in at least 4 sentences.

12. Sentence Stems and Analytical Verbs
Sentence Stems for Poetry Analysis (remember to write in present tense)
The poet’s use of (technique)………..
Through the poet’s use of (technique) …….
The poet could be suggesting that….
When the poet refers to …. as …. she is suggesting that …
The poet paints a vivid picture of ….
** you can also replace “the poet” with the poet’s surname
Analytical verbs
Reveals, shows, suggests, utilises, highlights, infers, describes, illustrates, uses, utilises

13. Extentsion Viewing - Duffy speaks about writing poetry (7th Oct 2022)

14. Sleeping in the forest - Mary Oliver - Extension poem