Before You Were Mine Flashcards
Give a short summary of Before You Were Mine.
“Duffy considers her mother’s life before…”
Duffy considers her mother’s life before she (Duffy) was born. She considers the sacrifices her mother had to make when she had a child.
“Marilyn.”
Before You Were Mine
Alluding to Marylin Monroe = symbol of glamour + beauty.
Also sense of tragedy - died young + infertile
“in those high-heeled red shoes, relics,”
Before You Were Mine
“relics” = symbol - heels are now just toys
Metaphor = Like something from ancient past. Sacred object + old-fashioned + no longer useful.
“and now your ghost clatters toward me”
Before You Were Mine
Powerful metaphor = the young glamourous women is dead.
”..stamping stars from the wrong pavement.”
Before You Were Mine
Metaphor = glamorous ‘future’ now replaced with domestic responsibility.
- Poets guilt?
