Exploring global issues
For the past few months we have been reading many poems written by Carol Ann Duffy, and upon reflection, I have realized that all of her poems always center around a global issue. For example, “Little Red Cap,” “Pygmalion’s Bride” and “Standing Female Nude” all focus around the global issue of women empowerment. All three of these poems have something in common, and that is that they showcase how women might have less power in situations, or aren't in control of the situation at the beginning of the poem, but at the end of the poem they seem to become more independent and take some control of what is happening to them, they are empowered in one way or another.
Let’s first start by talking about “Little Red Cap.” How might this poem, based off of an innocent children’s story, encompass such a serious global issue like women empowerment? “Little Red Cap” is about a sixteen-year-old girl that is ready to start having romantic and sexual relationships, with what seems to be an older man. In this case the man is described as a wolf, he is big and strong, and the girl is small and innocent. From the beginning there is an obvious dominant role in the poem. But the little girl seems to be interested, and wants to be with him, so it is not like he is making all of the decisions. Then, as we progress into the poem, the tension grows as the wolf seems to take her deep into the woods, the situation seems to get a little aggressive as the girl says “ My stockings ripped to shreds, scraps of red from my blazer snagged on twig and branch, murder clues.” This part of the poem probably symbolizes that the girl lost her innocence or even her virginity somewhere along the journey with this wolf. The girl still doesn’t seem to be in control in this part of the poem, even if it was her idea to go after the wolf. Then, finally the girl get tired of the wolf and she decided to take “an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop, scrotum to throat.” And after that she says “Out of the forest I come, with my flowers, singing, all alone.” This shows that the girl took power and control of the situation and she got rid of someone that was dragging her down. Unlike in the original story where the hunter, a man, is the one that comes and rescues Little Red Riding Hood, in this poem, Little Red Cap rescues herself, and in turn leaving feeling much more empowered as she sings with flowers in her hands.
The next poem that we will be discussing is “Pygmalion’s Bride.” This poem is about a girl that has been perfectly crafted by a man. She exists to make him happy and satisfied, and the girl is even described like if she were a statute, crafted to perfection by an artist. The girl basically endures all of the things that this mad does to her, which aren’t intrinsically bad, but clearly she does not want to be in this relationship. Again, at the beginning of this poem we see that she is not empowered at all, she “Lays still” as he thumbed her marbled eyes, and she doesn’t blink, or shrink when he does something that she doesn’t like. The girl seems to not only look like a statue, but also acts as a statue, simply accepting everything that is happening to her, and not really reacting to the situation even when she doesn’t seem to be enjoying it. But later on in the poem she takes control of the situation through her sexuality. She seems to take power of the situation through the sexual relationships that they are having as she says that she says that she “…arched, coiled, writhed, begged for his child, and at the climax screamed my head off- all an act. And haven’t seen him since. Simple as that.” This shows that once she was confident enough to take control of the sexual relationships that they were having, she became empowered enough to be able to leave the relationship. Women empowerment through sexuality is what is being shown here, because in the end, although she had to fake some things, the girl got rid of a toxic person that she no longer wanted in her life.
Finally the last poem that I will talk about is “Standing Female Nude.” This poem tells the story of a worker in France that poses nude for an artist to paint her. At first there might not seem to be any point in the story where the woman takes control of the situation, but there are important parts of this poem that show empowerment. For example she feels confident as she imagines the queen of England gazing on her shape, she imagines the queen murmuring “Magnificent,” and this makes her feel confident. And the fact that she is standing and posing for a man to paint her means that her body is so beautiful that it is worthy of art. A man appreciates her body so much that he is paying her to pose for him, while he works for hours in order to paint her. And at the end of the poem, after she is done with her job, she goes to fill herself with wine and she dances around the bar freely, no man can tell her what to do. This alone is empowering.
In conclusion, many of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem talk about global issues that affect women all over the world, and the poems can teach women that there are endless ways to become empowered.
