The poem ‘Education for Leisure’ by Carol Ann Duffy features an enigmatic character whose personality is gradually revealed throughout the poem. The poem explores a character disillusioned with the education system under Thatcher rule and the detrimental effect this has on the individual. The poet’s clever structure and use of language help reveal to the reader the psychopathic, egotistical and deluded nature of this character which in turn helps augment the reader’s understanding of the main theme isolation and the failure of the education system.
The poet reveals to the reader at the very beginning of the poem the character’s egotistical nature through the very first line: ‘Today I am going to kill something. Anything.’ The bold and blunt minor sentence ‘Anything’ is used by Duffy to make the reader take notice of the strange personality of the persona which is emphasised by the short minor sentence, heightening the impact. This is reinforced throughout the poem through the repetition of ‘I’ which continuously reminds the reader of the enigmatic nature of the persona, conveying the main theme of isolation. Duffy also employs biblical references to emphasise the deluded nature of the character: ‘I am going to play God’. Again, the repetition of ‘I’ in this line reinforces the deluded and self-absorbed nature of the persona. These biblical references are enforced later in the poem and almost act as a leitmotif: ‘I see that it is good’. Noticeably, Duffy again employs the word ‘I’ to further the persona’s self-absorbed personality to the reader. In my opinion, the poet cleverly emphasises the persona’s potential danger to society through the bold and blunt statements and also through the biblical references. She then furthers this by revealing to the reader the persona’s intelligence, heightening the impact of his deluded and enigmatic nature and his potential danger to society.
