It is sometimes claimed, usually by male critics, that contemporary women poets are only interested in exploring issues related to gender. Does your own detailed reading of the work of Carol Ann Duffy incline you to support or reject that view? Refer clos

Little Red Cap is one the strongest examples of Duffy’s feeling on inequality of the sex’s and one of the most obvious examples of her apparent distaste to men. The poem describes her first encounter with sex, but though stereotypically this is supposed to be a beautiful moment, all description of him is grotesque and animalistic. She on the other hand is portrayed as innocent and pure until he corrupts her. The line “sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif, and bought me a drink” is a metaphor in itself for this. A “sweet” virgin until he bought her a drink. Remorse and a hint towards homosexuality reveal themselves towards the end of the poem. She cuts open the wolf and see’s the “virgin” whiteness of her mothers bones and then her filling him with old stones shows her anger with what he has stolen from her. Then the line “i stitched him up” has two meanings. Literally and that she doesn’t consider that her first time. She comes out of the forest with her “flowers”, her virginity, “singing” rejoicing about her revelation that men are no good for her. The fact also that this poem is at the start suggests that this encounter is the reason for her feelings towards men which are so clear in the rest of the poems following.

The last poem in the book Demeter, offers the theme of love rather than any gender issues. The first two stanza’s are representative of her life previous to the introduction of her daughter to her. Description portrays loveless imagery, words like “granite, flint” and “ice” give cold emotionless feeling. As her daughter comes to her, she brings the spring, the warmth and the love to her life, and the last line suggests an idea which throughout every poem previous is none existent. “with the small shy mouth of a new moon” gives the idea of change in Duffy. That though she perceived that her encounter with heterosexual sex was detrimental and animalistic, it gave her a daughter, and with her daughter came her happiness. The “new moon” could be a new sympathetic viewpoint on men.

The World’s Wife has been criticised of being men hating and gender bias. However the theme that is actually being discussed has been cleverly disguised. The poem is a literary representation of Duff’s pregnancy and the feelings thoughts and decisions which occurred during. Little Red Cap is her first encounter with men in the book, stealing her virginity, but also starting her pregnancy. The poems from then on for example Mrs Sysyphus give very negative viewpoints on men, however this is because of the perceived ailment that pregnancy is to her. She doesn’t yet understand the gift she has been given. It is only till the last line of the last poem that she truly understands what she has been given. That the stress, the differences and the arguments of being with a man are worth it, because it achieves the ultimate gift of children.