The title of the collection suggests
Duffy’s agenda is to challenge
traditional male ideas about the
“gospel truth”.
THESIS: Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Feminine Gospels’ emphasises traditional male ideas about the
‘gospel truth’ by utilising general problems that women face in their day to day lives. ‘The
Gospel Truth’ is something that is unquestionably true, which Duffy highlights through tall tales
to find the truth about female issues. Duffy named the collection ‘Feminine Gospels’ to return a
voice to silenced women, therefore criticising male ideas.
POEM A: The Diet
diet culture - average age of onset anorexia is 16-17 yrs old, 1970s thinness expressed
conformity
the gospel truth - adapting an extreme diet in order to feel beautiful and to gain approval
from society does not bring health of happiness & a shallow pursuit of validation
narrative - a woman diets to extreme, fast weight loss, begins to disappear. still feels fat
despite the extreme dieting
language
Her skeleton preened / under its tight flesh dress
personification
assonance
juxtaposition
pronouns - separated from her skeleton, dissociated from herself
dehumanised, grotesque, macabre
idea of being glamorous and beautiful but the opposite affect
The title of the collection suggests Duffy’s agenda is to challenge traditional male ideas about the “gospel truth”. 1
, She was gulped, swallowed, sent down the hatch in a river of wine, bottoms up, cheers,
fetched up in a stomach before lunch
listing
almost like Alice in Wonderland - supernatural taking over from the practical
physical description of a woman on an extreme diet
inside the Fat Woman now, trying to get out
ends with a cliche
echoing the cliches in the first two stanzas
the thin body is capitalised
a representative of all women whose lives are destroyed by obsessive dieting
no resolution to the story
reader isn’t given any indication of the woman’s recovery
present progressive
child-sized, doll-sized
cliché
compound adjectives
infantilised - makes her seem innocent and young - perhaps instilled at a young age
guns for hips
violent, harmful
macabre
clear image of little flesh - lack of autonomy
suggests visually the sharp, hard shape of weapons
imply her aggression and anger
structure
strict nature of the diet
no rhyme scheme but internal rhyme, assonance = speeds up the rhythm
The title of the collection suggests Duffy’s agenda is to challenge traditional male ideas about the “gospel truth”. 2
Duffy’s agenda is to challenge
traditional male ideas about the
“gospel truth”.
THESIS: Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Feminine Gospels’ emphasises traditional male ideas about the
‘gospel truth’ by utilising general problems that women face in their day to day lives. ‘The
Gospel Truth’ is something that is unquestionably true, which Duffy highlights through tall tales
to find the truth about female issues. Duffy named the collection ‘Feminine Gospels’ to return a
voice to silenced women, therefore criticising male ideas.
POEM A: The Diet
diet culture - average age of onset anorexia is 16-17 yrs old, 1970s thinness expressed
conformity
the gospel truth - adapting an extreme diet in order to feel beautiful and to gain approval
from society does not bring health of happiness & a shallow pursuit of validation
narrative - a woman diets to extreme, fast weight loss, begins to disappear. still feels fat
despite the extreme dieting
language
Her skeleton preened / under its tight flesh dress
personification
assonance
juxtaposition
pronouns - separated from her skeleton, dissociated from herself
dehumanised, grotesque, macabre
idea of being glamorous and beautiful but the opposite affect
The title of the collection suggests Duffy’s agenda is to challenge traditional male ideas about the “gospel truth”. 1
, She was gulped, swallowed, sent down the hatch in a river of wine, bottoms up, cheers,
fetched up in a stomach before lunch
listing
almost like Alice in Wonderland - supernatural taking over from the practical
physical description of a woman on an extreme diet
inside the Fat Woman now, trying to get out
ends with a cliche
echoing the cliches in the first two stanzas
the thin body is capitalised
a representative of all women whose lives are destroyed by obsessive dieting
no resolution to the story
reader isn’t given any indication of the woman’s recovery
present progressive
child-sized, doll-sized
cliché
compound adjectives
infantilised - makes her seem innocent and young - perhaps instilled at a young age
guns for hips
violent, harmful
macabre
clear image of little flesh - lack of autonomy
suggests visually the sharp, hard shape of weapons
imply her aggression and anger
structure
strict nature of the diet
no rhyme scheme but internal rhyme, assonance = speeds up the rhythm
The title of the collection suggests Duffy’s agenda is to challenge traditional male ideas about the “gospel truth”. 2
