Mrs Midas

Question 1

It was late September.

Answer 1

Atmosphere/Symbolism/Foreshadowing

The fact that Duffy opens the poem with a short sentence that includes “September” indicate that the story is going to experience a big change and foreshadows that it is going to be a bad change as September is in Autumn which symbolises when things fade and are golden (hinting at Midas’ gift)

Question 2

I’d just poured a glass of wine, begun to unwind

Answer 2

Soft Alliteration

Question 3

The kitchen filled with the steam of itself

Answer 3

Personification

The fact that the kitchen “filled the steam of itself” makes it sound as if the kitchen has come to life. This idea contrasts witht the of life that is occuring outside.

The fact that it was filling “itself” foreshadows Midas’ arrogance.

Question 4

Wiped the other’s glass like a brow

Answer 4

Simile

The fact that Mrs Midas cannot see what is happening outside reflects her blindness to the arrogance that her husband has and the true self-centered person that he is.

The kitchen seems as it has been brought to life as it has a “brow” which contrasts with the death of life outside.

The fact that it is a brow suggests a ‘raised eyebrow’ which Mrs Midas had as she looked outside the window.

Question 5

He was standing under the pear tear snapping a twig

Answer 5

Harsh p,t,g sounds/end stopped line

Mrs Midas makes it seem as if everything was normal but the harsh p,t and g sounds foreshadow that a disruption is about to come.

Question 6

What is special about the first few paragraphs?

Answer 6

There is a lack of techniques which suggests that life used to be very simple. As the poem progresses, there are more techniques and more complex ones which suggests that there life had become more complex as it progressed due to Midas’ gift.

Question 7

the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky

Answer 7

Symbolism/Metaphor

The gold from Midas’ gift is represented by the dark. Due to its strong power, his gift kills everything very easily as is suggested by the word choice of “drink”. The life that he kills is represented by “the light of the sky”. This also foreshadows his death.

Question 8

Fondante d’Automne

Answer 8

‘the melting of Autumn’

Autumn is a golden season which reflects the gold of Midas’ gift. The “melting” part suggests that Midas is going to kill all of the beauty of Autumn - the life.

Question 9

It sat in his palm like a lightbulb. On.

Answer 9

Simile/Single word sentence

The pear that he has turned into gold is compared to a lightbulb as they are similar in size and they both shine brighly.

The lightbulb also suggests the idea that Midas had to choose his gift. “On.” suggests that it actually happened. The full stops suggests that he is shocked that they happened.

Question 10

Is he putting fairy lights on the tree?

Answer 10

Rhetorical Question

Shows Mrs Midas’ whimiscal tone and how she is trying to make light of the situation by joking about it. The “fairy lights” suggests that there are many things that Midas has turned into gold and that they are shining.

Question 11

He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed. He drew the blinds.

Answer 11

Short Sentences

Demonstrates Mrs Midas shock and how quickly the changes happened yet, Midas is calm. She doesn’t understand what is going on. The use of the conversional tone attracts the reader.

Question 12

You know the mind

Answer 12

Conversional Tone

Reveals her thoughts and feelings & engages the reader.

Question 13

Field of the Cloth of Gold

Answer 13

Refers to the meeting between the King of England and the King of France during which both kings try to outdo each other by showing off their wealth. This refers to the idea that Midas thought that he was just like the kings as now he had all of this gold and felt wealthy.

Question 14

He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne

Answer 14

Simile

Just as a King sits on a burnished throne and feels might and powerful so too does Midas feel like he is very fortunate to have his gift and feels wealthy as a result. This idea emphasises Midas’ ego.

Question 15

strange, wild, vain

Answer 15

Word choice

“strange” suggests that Mrs Midas didn’t recognise Midas’ face of greed as he has never shown his ego side to her before.

“wild” suggests that the gold was making Midas go crazy.

“vain” suggests that Midas thoughts he was better than everyone else just because he had this new power.

Question 16

What in the name of God is going on? He started to laugh.

Answer 16

Rhetorical Question

Shows that Mrs Midas is very confused about the situation. Midas laughs as it very ironic that she asked “in the name of God” as it was God himself that gave Midas his gift. This shows that Midas is slowly becoming more and more crazy due to his obsession with wealth.

Question 17

I served up the meal.

Answer 17

Short sentence

Shows Mrs Midas is trying to carry on with her normal life despite what has happened. The short sentence reflects her short temper.

Question 18

Within seconds he was spitting out the teeth of the rich

Answer 18

Metaphor

Midas was trying to eat the corn but he turned it into corn. The golden corn is compared to the teeth of the rich as they are similar in size and rich people are associated with golden teeth which is why they are compared. The fact he can’t eat foreshadows that Midas is going to die from starvation.

Question 19

I poured with a shaking hand

Answer 19

Shows Mrs Midas is frightened that her husband will turn her into gold with just one touch.

Question 20

glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.

Answer 20

Alliteration

The alliteration of the “g” reflects the gift that Midas has recieved of the gold and can suggest that due to his greed, Mrs Midas wants to gag. The alliteration of “l” suggests the luxuries that the gold has given. The “golden chalice” is a reference to the poisned chalice implying that the gold will kill Midas.

Question 21

It was then that I started to scream

Answer 21

Shows how Mrs Midas has finally realised the magnitude of the problem when Midas started choking on his food.

Question 22

He sank to his knees

Answer 22

Shows that Midas himself never realised what he had wished for and that he never thought it through as it suggests that he can die.

Question 23

I finished the wine

Answer 23

Suggests that Mrs Midas cannot believe what has happened and is ‘drinking her sorrows away’. Midas can’t drink the wine as he will turn it into gold.

Question 24

I made him sat at the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself.

Answer 24

Shows that Midas still seeks an intimate relationship with Mrs Midas but she fears too much that he will turn her or anything into gold and therefore, doesn’t let him touch her.

Question 25

I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone. The toilet I didn’t mind.

Answer 25

Short sentences/Humorous tone

The short sentences reflect how quickly all of these things could be changed into gold within just one touch. She moves the cat and the phone as they are important to her. Her humorous tone is revealed by “the toilet I didn’t mind” as she tries to find light in the dark situation by at least having a golden toilet.

Question 26

I couldn’t believe my ears:

Answer 26

Dramatic effect

Reflects the speaker’s disbelief upon finding out about how Midas got his gift.

Question 27

Look, we all have wishes; granted. But who has wishes granted?

Answer 27

Rhetorical Question/Pun

Mrs Midas conveys that she realises that dreams are not meant to happen and that they are there to give us a purpose in life - something to work towards. She conveys that no one has their dreams realised but of course the one person who does, is her ‘fool of a husband’ which contributes to the humorous tone.

Question 28

Him.

Answer 28

Single word sentence

Emphasises how disgusted she is by her husband and also reflects how Midas has isolated himself.

Question 29

Do you know about gold? It feeds no one.

Answer 29

Rhetorical Question

Mrs Midas emphasises that the true value of gold is that it is actually worth nothing. This is because you can’t eat it or drink it therefore, it is not of survival value. She realises that life is not all about wealth and that gold is just an object that human’s have given value to.

Question 30

aurums, soft, untarnshible

Answer 30

Word choice

“aurum” makes gold sound luxurious. She uses these words to describe gold to make it sound as if to mock gold about how ‘great’ it is when in reality it is just a piece of metal that human’s have given a value to. She cannot understand therefore, her husband’s obsession with a piece of metal.

Question 31

At least, I said, you’ll be giving up smoking for good

Answer 31

Humorous tone

Mrs Midas tries to bring humour to the serious situation by trying to look at the bright side of the gift that at least he will not smoke as he will turn the cigarettes into gold. This humorous creates an antithesis to the seriousness of the situation.

Question 32

Separate beds.

Answer 32

Short Sentence

The short sentence reflects how quickly the gift has impacted their personal lives as they cannot sleep in the same bed as Midas could accidently turn his wife into gold.
This also foreshadows how they will have split and take different paths in life.
This can also be interpreted by the saying ‘you’ve made your bed now lay in it’ implying that Mrs Midas will not forgive Midas and that he will have to deal with the consequences of his gift by himself.

Question 33

Near Petrified

Answer 33

Word choice

“Petrified” means ‘turned to stone’ in Latin. This suggests that Mrs Midas is scared of her husband because she knows that his touch can turn her into gold.

Question 34

tomb of Tutankhamun

Answer 34

Metaphor

Just as the tomb of tutankhamun was full of gold and has connontations of death so too, did the room that Midas was in, become golden and foreshadowed that the gold was going to kill Midas.

Question 35

You see

Answer 35

Conversational tone

Loss of intimacy makes readers think that Mrs Midas is about to tell us a secret.

Question 36

We were passionate then

Answer 36

Word choice/Contrast

“Passionate” suggests that their relationship used to be filled with love, warmth and caring for each other. This creates a contrast between the past - during which they truly loved each other and the present - during which Midas didn’t love Mrs Midas as much and chose gold over her.

Question 37

Halcyon days

Answer 37

Word Choice

Refers to the 7 days in Winter that are ideallic which does not last very long. This suggests that the true love they only lasted for a short time and then it was destroyed because of Midas’s gift.

Question 38

Unwrapping each other, rapidly, like presents, fast food

Answer 38

Simile

Just as a person that is hungry and wants to eat as well as a person that is opening a gift, unwrap their gifts/food really fast to get to what’s inside very fast so too, did Midas and Mrs Midas love each other so much thath they desired intimacy with one another and couldn’t get enough of each other.

Question 39

Now I feared his honeyed embrace

Answer 39

Word Choice

“feared” suggests that Mrs Midas was scared of her husband as he could turn her into gold.

“Honeyed” refers to his hug that could turn her into gold. It is also a double meaning as “honeyed” could refer to the warmth that his hug used to provide before he had his gift. But not that he has his gift it is “honeyed” because it honey has a similar colour to gold.

Question 40

That kiss would turn my lips into a work of art

Answer 40

Mrs Midas acknowledges that her husband could kill her and therefore, she prefers to not try and be intimate with him encase it kills her.

Question 41

who, when it comes to the crunch, can live with a heart of gold?

Answer 41

Rhetorical Question

“a heart of gold” usually has positive connotations of someone that is very helpful and kind to others. In this example, the saying is flipped in order to convey that no on can physically live with a heart of gold. This further implies that Midas’ obsession with gold is too much for Mrs Midas to handle as she cannot understand it.

Question 42

Ore Limbs

Answer 42

This shows how by choosing the gift of gold, Midas fundamentally chose gold over his wife. This is because by doing so, he destroyed her dream of having a baby as he can not touch her at all. This reveals the difference between Midas and his wife as Mrs Midas wants to create life whereas Midas destroys life with his gift. It further emphasises how self-centred he is and this becomes the ultimate climax for their split.

Question 43

amber eyes holding its pupils like flies

Answer 43

Simile

The amber eyes refer to her dream child’s eyes. Amber usually has pieces of dead insects within it which reflects how Midas’ power of gold also destroys life. They are the window to the soul that traps life.

Question 44

My dream milk burned in breasts. I woke to the streaming sun.

Answer 44

Metaphor/alliteration

The milk in her breasts is actually gold and thus, she cannot feed her baby with it is giving her a nightmare. When she wakes up, she realises that gold still dominated her life and thus, that she is still living in a nightmare.

“Burning” has connotations of hell which references to the devil that gave Midas his gift.

Question 45

He sat in the back.

Answer 45

Short Sentence

Reflects how they never even argued about him sitting in the back and how she rejects him. Also creates contrast of how once they used to together but now they have to take their separate paths.

Question 46

The woman who married the fools who wished for gold.

Answer 46

This refers to the idea that Mrs Midas is embarassed that she didn’t see how selfish Midas was before she married him and hence, hints that she regrets marrying him as he wished for something stupid and hurt her.

She feels isolated and hut as he chose gold over her.

Question 47

A beautiful lemon mistake

Answer 47

Metaphor

Refers to the colour of gold and suggests that he was stupid for what he chose and that he wasn’t ‘careful what he wished for’ and now he has to pay a price for it.

Question 48

Delirious

Answer 48

Word Choice

Suggests he was going crazy from the solitude.

Question 49

the Music of the Pan

Answer 49

Midas admitted to preffering the music of the pan to that of Apollo. Hence, Apollo gave Midas the ears of an ass to reflect his bad taste in music.

Question 50

That was the last straw.

Answer 50

Short sentence

Reflects Mrs Midas’ short temper and that now she is fed up with him. She could understand his obsession with gold to a certain extent but now that he has gone crazy she realises how much of a fool he was and gives up on him.

Question 51

What gets me now is not the idiocy or the greed but the lack of thought for me.

Answer 51

Angry Tone

She is angry as Midas has chosen gold over her. By doing so, he was being inconsiderate as he destroyed her ultimate dream of having a baby. She also saddened as she realises that she loved him more than he loved her.

Question 52

I think of him in certain lights

Answer 52

Mrs Midas still think of her husband. Although he hasn’t physically touched her with the gold, he has emotionally as the lights bring readers back to the beginning of the poem which signify that the lights make Mrs Midas think of him. The “light” also symbolises a time in their relationship in which they were happy which contrasts how they had to split.

Question 53

Once a bowl of apples stopped me dead.

Answer 53

It is ironic as Midas has never touched Mrs Midas physically after he recieved the gift but yet he has emotionally as she cannot help but think about him. Word choice is very harsh which reflects how she is emotionally traumatised.

Question 54

I miss most, even now, his hand, his warm hands on my skin, his touch

Answer 54

The gentle tone ends the poem.
The commas make the ending happen slowly.
It is ironic as what she misses most about him is what could have killed her.
Afterall, what kept her alive throughout this entire situation was her own dream of her child.
Shows that Mrs Midas acknowledges that our dreams can destroy the people around us.