Eurydice: Power Imbalance
In the collection of poems, The World’s Wife, Carol Ann Duffy explores various feminist themes, one of the most significant being the power relationships and their impact on women. Additionally, it provides a critical look at the power dynamics between genders directly connected to the level of social acceptance related to gender-specific behavior. Power dependency can be shown mostly in social aspects: social interactions with other people, social status, privileges, and interactions within relationships. In a patriarchy-biased society, the dominant role is typically assigned to men, while women are portrayed as weaker and submissive beings.
The main idea behind most of the poems in this collection is to show another side of famous myths and fairy tales. Duffy recasts them from a different point of view to make women’s voices audible and shift the focus from the male’s side of the story to the female’s. The change in gender-specific narrative highlights the initial difference between the two perspectives, which exists solely because of different positions within the power-imbalanced relationships assigned by society to men and women.
For instance, in the poem Eurydice, Duffy presents Eurydice as a narrator of the story to change the default point of view assigned by the patriarchy. The whole poem represents the monologue of Eurydice that, consists of a conversational tone and mostly colloquial language. These literary tools create an impression of sitting in front of a woman narrator and listening to her profound story.
The poem is constructed using enjambment that brings a sense of continuation beyond lines. Because of it, all verses of Eurydice’s monologue are visibly more connected to each other, and the focus shifts to the actual meaning behind the outspoken rhymes rather than the rhythm and aesthetic value of the work. Moreover, the use of soliloquy creates an intimate impression of sharing the secret truth. As Eurydice repetitively addresses girls in the middle of her monologue, she emphasizes how any girl could become a victim of an imbalanced power relationship and that she is not the only woman affected by it. This way, she juxtaposes soliloquy, her solitude, to the power and oppression of other girls, highlighting the ubiquitous issue.
The length of lines is irregular throughout the whole poem. It is short and direct in certain parts, focusing on specific words and phrases. Hence, it characterizes Eurydice as a narrator who does not like to be overly descriptive and prefers to center on the issue itself. It could be a reference to the difficulty related to verbalizing general traumatic experiences expressed through power imbalance impact on women.
At the same time, in other parts of the poem, the lines become long, descriptive, and emotional. By connecting the concept of power dynamics with the emotions of Eurydice, Duffy emphasizes that the victims of power imbalance develop an emotional attachment to superior people relatively quickly (Martín-Lanas et al., 2021). Thus, the issue of power dynamics expands to multiple aspects of women’s lives. It majorly affects their social behavior, sense of self, and perception of gender-related expectations directed toward them.
Women’s take on the often occurring power-imbalanced relationships are presented through eloquent and sarcastic remarks from Eurydice’s side, such as colloquial “Bollocks” (Duffy, 1999, Eurydice, line 45). Through the sarcasm along with the narrative, the character challenges the patriarchic ideas about women’s generalized image. For example, there is a verse where Eurydice praises Orpheus, who is an oppressing figure within the power dynamics between these two characters. The descriptions and eulogizing tones are constructed through the use of sarcasm. This way, Duffy implies that men get exposed to constant privileges in contrast to women within a patriarchic society. She reflects on it with hyperboles and grotesque, juxtaposing men’s privileged position with women’s oppression.
It is further supported by the way Eurydice calls Orpheus “big O” (Duffy, 1999, Eurydice, line 30). Normal at first glance, this O can stand for a big zero and, therefore, big nothing. Hence, through subtle irony, the poet defines that men do not hold this exaggerated imbalanced power over women outside of the system of values established by the patriarchy.
More than this, the use of grotesque could also emphasize how ignorant Orpheus was to the power dynamics, regarding it as something regular and right. This way, Duffy shows how easy it is to get used to the privileges people are constantly exposed to, especially if the privilege is directly impacting a group of oppressed people (Alcoff, 2019). Finally, the amount of admiration that Eurydice expresses through exaggerated forms clarifies her actual point of view and how she disagrees with the concept of power imbalance.
While being in imbalanced power relationships, a person, to some extent, loses their sense of self and starts to perceive themselves in an odd, slightly untrue way (Martín-Lanas et al., 2021). In the case of Eurydice, her confusion and mixed emotions about staying true to herself while being with Orpheus are clearly shown by the shift of point of view. The narrative is unfolded in the first person when she speaks about her feelings and expresses her thoughts. Still, as soon as it comes to her self-evaluation of relationships, the first-person narrative suddenly changes to the third person. Instead of saying “…calls me his Muse,” Eurydice says “…calls her his Muse” (Duffy, 1999, Eurydice, line 22). This way, she implies that she does not see the version of herself with Orpheus as her true self.
Additionally, Duffy includes the repetition of capitalized “names” that Orpheus calls Eurydice, such as “Dearest, Beloved, Dark Lady, White Goddess, etc., etc.” (Duffy, 1999, Eurydice, line 49). Thus, the poet emphasizes that Eurydice is not perceived and treated as an individual capable of expressing her own emotions and thoughts. Instead, pet names highlight that the woman is portrayed as an object, a part of Orpheus’ work, nothing more than that. It furthermore implies his oblivious ignorance towards the heroine, which is justified by the fact that he does not see a separate person and complete individuality in Eurydice (Alcoff, 2019). Despite using loud titles, Orpheus does not value her properly and prefers to simply objectify her and use her image in his intentions without caring about her opinion. Thus, sophisticated names contribute to the process of losing her value and self-esteem for Eurydice.
Objectifying is one of the common struggles in power-imbalanced relationships, and in Eurydice, Duffy focuses on this by using constant similes, comparing Eurydice to the prize. This way, individual human elements of the character are being deprecated. The focus remains on the aesthetic aspects and the way she contributes to Orpheus’ self-esteem as a part of the narrative where women belong to a man as a rewarding attribute (Morris et al., 2018). Hence, a common issue within imbalanced power dynamics is that women are perceived as accessories and fulfilling elements within men’s narratives.
All these specific features within Eurydice are used with a definite purpose: to foreshadow the apex of the poem. Ultimately, the heroine refuses to follow Orpheus and reclaims control over her fate, which mirrors Duffy’s feminist take on the matter. Initially, Eurydice was the source of the man’s poetry and therefore has been assigned a secondary role within Orpheus’ narrative of life. As often happens in imbalanced power relationships, a woman’s existence contributes to the significance of a man’s persona and ego, which makes the female role solely supportive and individually irrelevant (Morris et al., 2018). However, in the end, Eurydice used Orpheus’ poetry against him as a way to reclaim her power over herself. Thus, the poet implies that imbalanced power relationships bring destruction to women’s lives and stigmatize their capability to choose their own path in life.
Little Red Cap, Mrs. Quasimodo and Thetis: Predator-Prey Dynamics
Another implication of imbalanced power dynamics is the predator-prey relationship imposed on men and women. Cis-gendered heterosexual men, being the privileged class, are set as the dominant predators due to the patriarchic beliefs related to the concept of toxic masculinity and men’s responsibility to control women’s lives (Bellamy, 2019). At the same time, traditional stereotypes of women and specifically the image of women’s body parts are imposing the narrative of prey. The parallel between this power dynamic and the roles within heterosexual relationships is shown through the fact that women are often perceived as someone alluring and desiring who men have to hunt and eventually possess (Bellamy, 2019). In the poems Thetis, Mrs. Quasimodo, and Little Red Cap, Duffy explores the impact of this parallel on socially reinforced gender roles.
In the poems, Duffy elaborates on the topic of women’s sex appeal and shows how women’s image is perceived by men as a chasing target, while any verbal or physical communication with women even resembles a game. For instance, repetition is one of the most obvious literary devices she uses to emphasize this parallel. The poem Thetis goes, “Sweet, sweet was the small song,” and here it is a repetition of the same word (Duffy, 1999, line 4). The word “sweet” represents the expected and unwillingly reinforced sweetness of women’s nature and the sweetness of the hunt.
In Mrs. Quasimodo, it is the repetition of present participles of verbs: “gargling, or chanting slowly, calming me” that significantly slows the pace of a poem (Duffy, 1999, line 3). This literary decision emphasizes how women are seen as easy targets for the hunt. Thus, through the narrative format, Duffy draws a parallel to the social implications related to the patriarchy-related purpose of any of women’s actions: they have to be prey to contribute to the joyful feeling of men’s exciting hunt.
Another thing that Duffy includes in her poems is the expanded use of Symbolism. In Thetis, different forms of transformation are listed one after another through different repetition devices. In part “to raccoon, skunk, stoat, to weasel, ferret, bat, mink, rat,” the poet applies asyndetons that characterize the text by diversifying the context (Duffy, 1999, lines 32-33). Hence, asyndetons present the diversity of animals that the heroine unwillingly had to transform into in order to adapt to a world ruled by men.
At the same time, Duffy uses polysyndetons that bring more focus to the personal pronouns: “I was wind, I was gas, I was all hot air” (Duffy, 1999, Thetis, line 38). Duffy repeats the same structure in order to refer to an endless cycle of a chasing game within the predator-prey relationship. In both cases of asyndetons and polysyndetons, the character has to change her physical form because of a man’s influence. This way, the predator role is emphasized by the undisputable control that a man has over women due to the socially accepted accent on masculinity’s dominance over femininity (Bellamy, 2019). It highlights the power imbalance dynamic and criticizes the objectification of women shown through estimating their value by relying solely on the visual and aesthetic parts.
Another example is used in the lines, “But I felt my wings clipped by the squint of a crossbow’s eye” (Duffy, 1999, Thetis, lines 11-12). The clipped wings directly symbolize the lack of freedom, fear, and coercion. This way, Duffy examines the struggles of women through the Symbolism and explores the way socially accepted oppressing behavior towards women takes away the freedom of their individual choice.
Meanwhile, in Mrs. Quasimodo, Duffy (1999) begins numerous amount of lines with the personal pronoun “I.” For instance, in different lines, it goes: “I frightened cats” (line 15); “I lived alone up to seven flights” (line 16); “I climbed the bell tower steps,” (line 22); “I felt a thump of confidence” (line 28), etc. The first-person narrative encourages the reader to sympathize with the prey by viewing the “hunt” from their perspective. The shift of attention towards a female perspective contributes to removing objectification and observing women as individual beings whose existence is not dependent on men (Morris et al., 2018). Thus, the female narrator is given a strong voice to openly express the struggles of women in the setting of patriarchy as a way to challenge the lack of a female gaze within different media.
As other poems briefly explore the predator-prey power dynamic while highlighting various different issues as well, the poem Little Red Cap majorly focuses on the parallel between the power imbalance and the hunt. Since this poem is a re-casting of the Brothers Grimm’s version of the famous fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, it criticizes the predator-prey relationship by using a predator character and a young girl who is portrayed as prey. From the beginning of the poem, there is a noticeable tension that is created by combining different rhymes. In lines number 1 and 3: “clearing, reading, staining,” Duffy uses a consonant rhyme, whereas in lines 2 and 3: “drawl, paw, jaw,” there is an assonant rhyme (Duffy, 1999). The juxtaposition of these types of rhymes creates a sense of tension that emphasizes the difference in the maturity levels of Red Cap and the Wolf. This way, the tension between the characters is mainly explained by the significant power imbalance.
Duffy highlights the moment when the hunt has officially begun through the use of discontinuous intonations. In line 17, it goes: “My stockings ripped to shreds, scraps of red from my blazer snagged on twig and branch,” and here the poet includes a number of similar repetitive sounds, such as “sh,” “sc,” and “st” (Duffy, 1999, Little Red Cap). These specific sounds make the intonation intense and rough, which refers to the effortless dominance of the Wolf.
Then, in line 13, “But got there, wolf’s lair, better beware,” the pace abruptly speeds up, as if Red Cap suddenly loses control over the situation (Duffy, 1999, Little Red Cap). It is the moment of revelation that the Wolf was in control all along since short and rough rhymes emphasize one-sided power dynamics. Short sentences also imply that the overall development of the relationships is happening too fast for Red Cap. Additionally, the shortness could refer to the fact that Red Cap only focuses on the main details of the experience in order to be able to survive the hunt. It is a direct link to the socially accepted unfolding scenarios for the imbalanced power relationships, where women are almost unable to affect the pace of events. Within the hunt, the predator decides on the fate of their prey; similarly, in the predator-prey power dynamics, the oppressed side loses control over the situation.
Conclusion on The World’s Wife
Although there are many more poems within the collection The World’s Wife, previously discussed ones critically examine the established patriarchic values and their impact on the general power dynamics between men and women. In the selected poems, Duffy explores two main viewpoints on the issue of power dynamics: predator-prey relationships and significant power imbalance. These categories are complementary because of the impact of the lack of equal power on the overall progression of the hunt.
While dealing with the issue of predator-prey power dynamics, Duffy focuses on shape-shifting rhymes in a way it affects the pace and the rhythm of the lines. It controls the tension portrayed in the poems, which mimics the fear of hunt. It also contributes to the impression of the anticipation of a final fight and, therefore, provides female characters more power in order to face the patriarchic oppression on equal terms with men.
While emphasizing the power imbalance between men and women within the narrative of a patriarchic society, Duffy examines how women can reclaim their power by stepping out of the frame assigned to them by society. Evidently, the perennial oppression and unrealistic expectations towards the way women are supposed to present themselves, behave, and their general role in relation to men’s narrative is difficult to escape due to the issue’s ubiquity. However, The World’s Wife’s take on the fight against inequality is represented by reclaiming the power and changing the narrative.
Duffy solely portrays female narrators in all of the poems of this collection, which spreads the concept of the female gaze in the active juxtaposition to the male gaze related to all of the re-casted stories in The World’s Wife. This way, the poet challenges the relevance of the predominately male narrative reinforced by the patriarchic views. While men are portrayed as dominating women and being in control, which has prominent negative consequences on women’s lives, women reclaiming power does not intend to hurt men. For instance, when Eurydice used Orpheus’ poetry against him, her goal was to gain independence rather than do something malicious toward the man.
Women empowerment suggests that both parties lose something to achieve balanced power dynamics: but if women lose the grip of expectations and control over their lives, men lose the sense of dominance, which can majorly damage their ego. Nonetheless, within this collection of poems, Duffy provides a critical point of view on the power imbalance, explores its impact on women’s lives, and subtly suggests ways of challenging the patriarchic narrative. Thus, she takes a feminist take on women’s empowerment and the ways to fight for equality.
References
Alcoff, L. M. (2019). Race and gender and epistemologies of ignorance. In The Routledge Handbook of Social Epistemology (pp. 304-312). Routledge.
Bellamy, T. (2019). Bluebeard – the eternal predator. In: F. T. Barbini (Ed.) A shadow within: Evil in fantasy and science fiction (p. 133-148). Lunar Press Publishing.
Duffy, Carol Ann. (1999). The world’s wife: Poems. Picador.
Martín-Lanas, R., Osorio, A., Anaya-Hamue, E., Cano-Prous, A., & de Irala, J. (2021). Relationship power imbalance and known predictors of intimate partner violence in couples planning to get married: A baseline analysis of the AMAR Cohort Study. Journal of Interpersonal violence, 36(21-22), 10338-10360.
Morris, K. L., Goldenberg, J., & Boyd, P. (2018). Women as animals, women as objects: Evidence for two forms of objectification.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(9), 1302-1314.