More Than a Collection of Parts: Studying the Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy
(Bleiman)
● 'often has a conversational tone of voice- she draws into her poems everyday idioms,
clichés that she subverts'
○ Diet subverts the maxim 'inside every fat woman is a skinny one trying to get
out'
● 'humourous, jokey slant that makes the reader think afresh'
● 'demotic style with witty punchlines'
● 'challenging the conventional ways of thinking about the world and overturning
expectations'
○ e.g. History
● 'unshamedly political'
○ e.g. TWWS, History, Work, Loud
● overriding theme= women, their place in the world and the way they are represented'
○ Beautiful, Diet, TWWS
● Differs from World's Wife- 'no longer interested in the woman behind the famous man
but more concerned with women in their own right, allowing ordinary and diverse
women to speak about their circumstances and lives'
● 'the personal and political are deeply intertwined'
(Bleiman)
● 'often has a conversational tone of voice- she draws into her poems everyday idioms,
clichés that she subverts'
○ Diet subverts the maxim 'inside every fat woman is a skinny one trying to get
out'
● 'humourous, jokey slant that makes the reader think afresh'
● 'demotic style with witty punchlines'
● 'challenging the conventional ways of thinking about the world and overturning
expectations'
○ e.g. History
● 'unshamedly political'
○ e.g. TWWS, History, Work, Loud
● overriding theme= women, their place in the world and the way they are represented'
○ Beautiful, Diet, TWWS
● Differs from World's Wife- 'no longer interested in the woman behind the famous man
but more concerned with women in their own right, allowing ordinary and diverse
women to speak about their circumstances and lives'
● 'the personal and political are deeply intertwined'
