the map woman
💌 DUFFY’S MESSAGE & INTENTIONS:
women try to change for male validation
women change = self-motivated?
conforming to consumerism
‘THE GOSPEL TRUTH’ -
societal pressure us to look a certain way
identity is not fixed; change
women need to find themselves - finding your own skin that you’re can be made
comfortable with
SUMMARY
begins by telling of a woman who has a ‘map of the town / where she’d grown’ as her ‘skin’
Duffy fuses memory with physical appearance, suggesting that identity is formed from past experiences
as the poem progresses describing how the map spans the whole woman’s body
she tries to escape - travels the world, experiencing new culture
yet she cannot really escape her past
the identity formed as a child has followed her forever - represented by the constant presence of the map
there are moments of positivity within the poem BUT the overall tone is gloomy and depressing
eventually the woman manages to shed her skin YET even then, deep in her bones the ‘old streets’ remain
the map woman 1
💌 DUFFY’S MESSAGE & INTENTIONS:
women try to change for male validation
women change = self-motivated?
conforming to consumerism
‘THE GOSPEL TRUTH’ -
societal pressure us to look a certain way
identity is not fixed; change
women need to find themselves - finding your own skin that you’re can be made
comfortable with
SUMMARY
begins by telling of a woman who has a ‘map of the town / where she’d grown’ as her ‘skin’
Duffy fuses memory with physical appearance, suggesting that identity is formed from past experiences
as the poem progresses describing how the map spans the whole woman’s body
she tries to escape - travels the world, experiencing new culture
yet she cannot really escape her past
the identity formed as a child has followed her forever - represented by the constant presence of the map
there are moments of positivity within the poem BUT the overall tone is gloomy and depressing
eventually the woman manages to shed her skin YET even then, deep in her bones the ‘old streets’ remain
the map woman 1
