Carol Ann Duffy (Scottish Highers English): Revision Notes

Mrs Midas

Overview

Carol Ann Duffy's poem presents a modern retelling of the ancient Greek myth of King Midas, but this time from the perspective of his wife. In the original myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses, King Midas was granted a wish by the god Dionysus. He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Duffy reimagines this story through the eyes of Mrs Midas, giving voice to a character who has been silenced in the traditional telling of the myth.

Through Mrs Midas, Duffy explores how one person's selfish decision can destroy a relationship. The speaker recounts the discovery of her husband's new ability, the growing horror as she realises the implications, and the eventual breakdown of their marriage.

The tone shifts throughout the poem. It begins with dark comedy as Mrs Midas watches everyday objects transform into gold. However, the humour gradually gives way to anger, sadness and regret as she confronts the devastating consequences of her husband's greed. She is forced to separate from him, loses the possibility of physical intimacy, and must abandon her dream of having a child together.

Form and structure

Dramatic monologue

The poem takes the form of a dramatic monologue, meaning a single speaker addresses the reader directly throughout. This technique allows Duffy to create an intimate, confessional tone. Mrs Midas speaks as if telling her story to a listener, revealing her thoughts and emotions as events unfold. The dramatic monologue form gives the character psychological depth and makes her experience feel immediate and personal.

Irregular stanza structure

The poem consists of eleven stanzas with irregular line lengths, ranging from six to ten lines each. This irregularity reflects the chaos and unpredictability that has entered Mrs Midas' life. Just as her husband's touch could transform anything at any moment, the structure of the poem itself refuses to settle into a regular pattern. The varying lengths suggest instability and the constant threat of disruption.

Two-part structure

The poem can be divided into two distinct sections:

Stanzas 1-6: Discovery and realisation

Setting the scene

The poem opens with Mrs Midas in a domestic setting, performing ordinary evening activities. She pours herself wine whilst cooking, beginning to 'unwind' after her day. The kitchen is personified as being 'filled with the smell of itself', which creates a sense of warmth and comfort. This is reinforced by the description of the kitchen's 'steamy breath' which is 'gently blanching'. These gentle, nurturing images establish the normality of their lives before the transformation.

The timing is also important. The poem is set during September, described as the 'peak of the golden autumnal month'. This seasonal reference establishes gold as part of the natural world at this time of year, making what is about to happen seem even more unsettling. The natural gold of autumn will be replaced by the unnatural, destructive gold of Midas' touch.

The first transformation

Mrs Midas notices something strange happening in the garden through the kitchen window. The steam on the window initially obscures her view, forcing her to look again. When she does, she sees her husband plucking a pear from a tree. She describes how '...it sat in his palm like a light-bulb. On.'

Her incredulity continues as she wonders if he is 'putting fairy lights in the tree?' This question reveals her attempt to rationalise what she is seeing. The reference to fairy lights maintains the domestic, even whimsical tone, but the question mark shows her confusion. She is searching for a logical explanation for something that defies logic.

Midas returns indoors

In stanza 3, Midas walks back through the house, and everything he touches transforms. Doorknobs and blinds turn to 'gleaming gold'. This leads Mrs Midas to recall a history lesson about 'the Field of the Cloth of Gold', the meeting place between the Kings of England and France in 1520 near Calais.

Mrs Midas observes the 'strange, wild, vain' face of her husband as he realises the extent of his new power. The adjectives reveal her judgement of him. 'Strange' suggests he has become unfamiliar to her. 'Wild' implies lack of control. 'Vain' directly accuses him of shallow self-interest. As an 'exasperated wife', she makes a typical exclamation: 'What in the name of God is going on?' This colloquial expression grounds the extraordinary situation in everyday married life. Her husband's response is to laugh, showing his initial inability to grasp the seriousness of what has happened.

The dinner scene

In stanza 4, Mrs Midas attempts to restore normality by serving dinner. Her matter-of-fact tone, 'For starters, corn on the cob', creates dark comedy. The phrase 'for starters' is a pun: it refers to the first course of the meal, but also hints that this is just the start of their problems.

The transformation continues as food utensils turn to gold. Mrs Midas' anxiety becomes physical when she pours wine 'with a shaking hand'. This detail reveals her growing fear despite the comic surface. The alliteration emphasises her trembling reaction.

She then witnesses the glass itself transform. She observes how 'as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.' The progression from 'glass' to 'goblet' to 'golden chalice' shows the transformation happening before her eyes. Each word becomes more precious and ornate.

Panic and practicality

The reality of the situation overwhelms Mrs Midas at the start of stanza 5. She 'started to scream' whilst her husband 'sank to his knees'. Both verbs suggest the weight of realisation crushing them. Mrs Midas responds by finishing the wine and forcing her husband to sit 'on the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself.'

The phrase 'keep his hands to himself' is typically used to warn someone against unwanted sexual advances. Here, it takes on a darkly comic double meaning: Midas must literally keep his hands away from her or she will be turned to gold. This reveals that whilst Midas may still desire physical intimacy with his wife, his gift has made this impossible. The line introduces the theme of lost physical connection that will dominate the second half of the poem.

Mrs Midas then takes practical precautions. She locks the cat in the cellar to protect it from being transformed. She moves the phone to keep it functional. However, she is content to let the toilet turn to gold, a detail that injects humour even in this crisis moment.

The wish revealed

Duffy inserts a deliberate pause before Mrs Midas recounts how her husband was 'granted' a wish. The word 'granted' is repeated, functioning as a pun. On one level, it means given or allowed. On another level, it suggests taking something for granted, treating it as if it has no real value. The repetition conveys Mrs Midas' bitter incredulity: people make wishes all the time, but if one was actually going to come true, of course it had to be her 'fool' of a husband who would receive it and waste it so destructively.

Despite this harsh reality, Mrs Midas momentarily returns to dark humour. She notes that at least Midas will '...be able to give up smoking for good.' He will be unable to touch cigarettes without transforming them. This comic observation provides brief relief from the growing tension, but it also reinforces the loss of ordinary pleasures that Midas now faces.

Stanzas 7-11: Consequences and loss

Physical separation

The opening of stanza 7 is blunt and devastating: 'Separate beds.'. These two words encapsulate the destruction of their intimate relationship. The brevity of the statement emphasises the finality of the decision.

Mrs Midas' terror of her husband touching her intensifies. She reveals that she puts a chair against her bedroom door at night because she is 'near petrified'. The word 'petrified' creates a pun: it means both extremely frightened and literally turned to stone. If her husband touches her, she will be transformed into a golden statue, effectively becoming stone. The pun connects her emotional state with the physical danger she faces.

Dark humour resurfaces when she describes how the spare room has been transformed into the 'tomb of Tutankhamen'. This reference to the famous Egyptian pharaoh's golden tomb is visually appropriate, but it also symbolises death. Their relationship and their shared dreams are now entombed, effectively dead and buried beneath the gold.

Mrs Midas then contrasts their present suffering with their past happiness. Before the wish, they enjoyed 'halcyon days', a phrase meaning peaceful and joyful times. They were 'passionate', 'unwrapping each other, rapidly, like presents, fast food.'

The impossible child

Stanza 8 explores Mrs Midas' grief over the child she can never have. She poses the question: 'who...can live with a heart of gold?' This phrase usually describes someone kind and empathetic, carrying positive associations. However, Mrs Midas inverts this familiar metaphor by taking it literally. A baby born with a literal heart of gold could not survive. What appears attractive on the surface would be fatal in reality.

She describes the baby she has imagined: it has 'perfect ore limbs' and 'amber eyes'. The description initially seems beautiful. 'Ore' refers to the mineral from which metal is extracted, connecting to gold whilst sounding like 'or', creating ambiguity. 'Amber eyes' evoke warm, honey-coloured tones.

Mrs Midas acknowledges that her milk will remain only a 'dream'. As long as her husband possesses this gift, she can never nurse a child. The poem connects motherhood with the most intimate form of physical contact, and Midas' transformation has made this impossible.

Each morning, she wakes to the 'streaming sun', which poignantly reminds her that the golden glow of sunlight now has a sinister double meaning. Every day begins with a visual reminder of what gold has cost her.

Exile and isolation

Stanza 9 states bluntly: 'So he had to move out.'. The simple, direct language reflects the inevitability of this decision. Mrs Midas drives him to live in their caravan 'under cover of dark', suggesting shame or secrecy. She returns alone, identifying herself as 'the woman who married the fool'. This phrase expresses her bitter resentment. She blames her husband for stupidly wishing for gold without considering the consequences.

Initially, she visits him, but always parks the car a safe distance away. This physical distance mirrors their emotional separation. She cannot risk getting too close in case his power affects her.

The desolate landscape

Stanza 10 describes the solitary journey Mrs Midas makes to visit her husband. She encounters single golden objects in the rural landscape: 'Golden trout' and 'a hare hung from a larch'. These images suggest that Midas has touched wildlife during his wandering, leaving a trail of golden death. The natural world has been transformed into something unnatural and lifeless.

She finds him in a pitiful state: 'thin, delirious, hearing, he said, the music of Pan.'

Final reflections

The final stanza expresses Mrs Midas' anger at her husband's 'pure selfishness'. His wish was motivated by personal greed without thought for how it would affect others. She has been deprived not only of a physical relationship with her husband but also of her chance to have the baby she dreamed of.

The poem ends with a poignant memory of their former intimacy: 'even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.' The repetition of 'hands' emphasises the importance of touch as a symbol of their physical and emotional connection. The adjective 'warm' is particularly moving because it reminds us that gold is cold and hard, the opposite of human warmth. The final word, 'touch', stands alone, underlining what has been permanently lost. This single word carries the weight of all her grief.

Themes

Greed and its destructive consequences

Greed motivates Midas to make his wish in the first place. Rather than wishing for something that would benefit others or improve the world, he chooses personal material wealth. The poem demonstrates how greed destroys not just the individual who succumbs to it, but everyone connected to them. Mrs Midas suffers as much as her husband, losing her marriage, her chance for intimacy, and her dream of motherhood.

Actions and their consequences

The poem explores how a single decision can have devastating and irreversible consequences. Midas and his wife fail to think through what would happen if his wish were granted. They do not deliberate or consider the implications before acting. Once the wish is made, there is no going back.

The consequences extend far beyond what Midas imagined. He cannot eat, cannot touch his wife, cannot have a child, and must live in isolation. His wife loses the life she had built and the future she had imagined. Every aspect of their existence is transformed by one thoughtless choice.

Loneliness and solitude

By the end of the poem, both characters are trapped in solitude. Midas must live apart from human contact, wasting away in isolation. Mrs Midas is left alone with her memories and regrets, separated from the man she loved. The poem suggests that greed and selfishness ultimately lead to isolation, cutting people off from meaningful human connection.

Remember!