Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Mrs Beast - Carol Ann Duffy

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Mrs Beast - Carol Ann Duffy The original story of Beauty and the Beast, teaches its young audience not to judge people by their appearances. Despite how a person may look on the outside, beauty comes from within. Carol Ann Duffy's dramatic monologue, 'Mrs Beast' is a complete contrast to the original fairytale. The Beast in the original is misunderstood but kind, loving and generous, as he is in Duffy's version. 'Belle'on the other hand has transformed from a kind and loving, young girl that views the world with childlike innocence, into an independent, cold hearted, power hungry, sadist. She introduces herself firstly by comparing her beauty to that of other beautiful and influential women throughout history"...stare into my face -Helen's face, Cleopatra's,...Gaze into my eyes -Nefertiti's, Mona Lisa's, Garbo's..." These are all beautiful women who's downfalls were caused indirectly, by the actions of the men in their lives. Mrs Beast continues and tells the reader to"...think again." Implying that although she is as beautiful as these women, she is not to be underestimated, she is not like them and will not befall the same fate. ...read more.

Middle

It is obvious from Mrs Beast reaction to each of his declarations of adoration that it is his erection and her power over him that impresses her most, and seeing as she already has wealth and beauty those are the very reasons that she is here. Mrs Beast reinforces the imagery of her power in the third stanza. She informs us that she is in charge as she tells the reader "The lady says Do this. Harder. The lady says Do that .Faster." The pig in her bed was "invited." and if he fouled the sheets "...then, he'd wash them. Twice." Despite the Beasts subservience and his desire to please, Mrs Beast is continuously cruel with the style in which she describes him, and you can imagine that she addresses him in the same manner. She describes him as being "ugly as sin" and seems in some ways repulsed when referring to his breath being that of a goat, "...his horrid leather tongue" scouring between her toes and "...his hooked and yellow claws.." ...read more.

Conclusion

Duffy may be using this sentence in reference to the other wives within the book who were less fortunate. Mrs Beast is definitely directing her passage at a female audience, when talking to her listeners she refers to them as "..girls." she is instructing female listeners to take heed and listen to her advice "...they're bastards when they're Princes./ What you want to do is find yourself a Beast" She implies that good looking guys will treat you badly, whereas the ugly ones are not only better in bed but will also do as they're told. Mrs Beast rebels against a male dominated society, she doesn't want to be perceived as the weak female. She ensures that 'she' is the dominate one in all aspects of their relationship. She has successfully maintained her independence and power, yet goes to the extreme and develops the same aggressive male traits that she herself has judged. In order to protect her own insecurities, Mrs Beast has become cold hearted and unfeeling "Let the less loving one be me." She treats the Beast this way, not only because he allows her, but because if she loves him less, then she herself cannot be hurt. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Carol Ann Duffy section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Carol Ann Duffy essays

  1. Marked by a teacher

    How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of ...

    5 star(s)

    The fact that the line is also significantly shorter draws attention to it, as it develops her understanding of the situation. The use of rhetorical question at the end of the stanza, almost adds a sense of humour to it as she depicts various rational explanations for the lights in the garden.

  2. Compare 3 poems by Carol Ann Duffy in which she shows us that things ...

    This metaphorical thunderstorm has been gathering since the beginning of that 'feverish July.' The sky splitting open suggests that knowledge and adulthood are a shock to the children. Kind Mrs Tilscher no longer protects 'you'. 'You' are open to the 'thunderstorm' of adulthood.

  1. Three poems by Carol Ann Duffy - In Mrs Tilscher's Class.

    this is that you might as well be dead if you cannot take what you want. If you want something you should take it, and this is his advice for himself and also his point of view. * The thief takes the snowman because he has no human friends because if this he treats the snowman as a friend.

  2. Discuss the ways in which Carol Ann Duffy explores the theme of alienation in ...

    In both Stealing and Education or Leisure both speakers come across as very self-centered. Alienation or the root of alienation could either cause this, as they do not have many people to talk to and think about. Similarly in Stealing there is an interesting reference to Shakespeare in the poem.

  1. How does Carol Duffy create thecharacter 'Mrs Midas'?

    She drinks on her own she is scared of been turned into gold. In stanza six, she is in disbelief- that this has come true. Also she asks rhetorical questions ' why did he do it?' ' Do you know about gold?', Gold has no pactual worth.

  2. An evaluation of TWO poems on the theme of 'outsider'- 'Education for leisure' by ...

    In conclusion to the first poem, the mood the writer creates is negative because it talks about murder and death. This poem had no rhyming words and it was written as a diary. She has written the poem in that style because she wants it to be more effective while the reader is reading the phrase 'The pavement glitter suddenly.

  1. Duffy's Style

    Duffy depends on the 'Not a...' lines as she then goes on to say what has been received and how they are associated with love and her feelings. These lines also help to give a sense of patterning and give the poem order.

  2. Compare how Carol Ann Duffy presents women in the poems Havisham and Salome

    However Havisham is completely different as it seems she repels men. Carol Ann Duffy has constructed the poems with a range of poetic devices and has created lots of thoughtful images. The poetic devices are very effective in both poems as they create imaginative images for the reader.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work