CONTEXTUALIZE

- Written by Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy

- It is in her 1999 anthology The World's Wife, which subverts myths and fairytales in order to re-examine and play with
traditional narratives that exist within them, particularly when it comes to gender roles.
- Based on the tale of Sisyphus in Greek mythology. He was punished for his deceitfulness by being forced to roll an
immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.
Duffy subverts this tale by putting the wife of Sisyphus, who isn’t mentioned in the original tale, as the focus of
the poem and explains how the work-obsessed male in the relationship leads to the ignorance of the female’s
needs.

OVERVIEW
- In the poem, the main female persona; Mrs Sisyphus, elaborates on her relationship with her husband. While she
evokes a sense of anger and dissatisfaction with her husband at first, her tone abruptly changes and she critically
reflects on her loneliness and sadness in her relationship.
- Like in her poem Medusa, Duffy gives us a persona that we are meant to hate because of her unsupportiveness
towards her husband. However, as the poem progresses, we sympathise with the lack of affection she feels. Carol
Ann Duffy is showing a world where men, and their needs, are more important than women.

NARRATION
- Narrated from a first-person perspective instead of a 3rd person omniscient as is the case with the original story. This
empowers the main female persona and is an example of a subversion of the original story.

STRUCTURE
- Dramatic monologue form. In this form, a single persona, who isn’t the poet, addresses the listeners at a specific
moment in time. Duffy’s use of a dramatic monologue form allows her to control what the speaker of the poem
says to reveal to the reader the speaker’s temperament and character.
- 3 stanzas with varying number of lines
- Varying rhyme scheme

THEMES
- Workaholism
- Male egocentricity

TONE AND MOOD

- The tone begins as dissatisfied and bitter (with slight undertones of satire) in the first two stanzas but becomes
more hurt in the last stanza. This shift in tone allows Duffy to put more emphasis on the last stanza of the poem
which critically reflects on the consequences of work-obsessed males on females; a perspective which is often
ignored

MIPs. in this commentary I will be returning to three main ideas:

1. The main themes of this poem
2. The characterization of the main female persona
3. The ways in which Duffy subverts the “classic” plot with a secondary female character using a feminist twist
 LINE-BY-LINE ANALYSIS
Mrs Sisyphus

- Allusion:​ title alludes to the tale of Sisyphus in Greek mythology. Duffy ironically names the poem in terms of the
husbands to emphasise that the wives of these famous characters haven’t even in the past been identifiable by
their own names.

That's him pushing the stone up the hill, the jerk.

I call it a stone - it's nearer the size of a kirk.
When he first started out, it just used to irk,
but now it incenses me, and him, the absolute berk.

- Diction:​ by using the word “him” to address Sisyphus, Duffy is able to universalize the struggle which the female
speaker in this poem faces with her husband. Additionally, the main female speaker is seen to use very colloquial
and informal language (e.g. jerk and berk), highlighting the postmodern features of this poem
- Intertextual reference:​ the reference to the male persona “pushing the stone up the hill” is a direct reference to
the Greek mythological story where Sisyphus is punished by pushing a boulder up a hill. In the poem, Duffy utilizes
this pointless action to illustrate how men in relationships are obsessed with work and as a result disrespect their
female partners
- End rhyme:​ every line of the first stanza (which is a quatrain) rhymes (e.g. jerk, kirk, irk). These rhymes, which are
all colloquial insults for the man, creates a comical effect and in turn gives the readers the impression that
whatever Sisyphus is doing is laughable. Moreover, these repeated rhymes help accentuate the dissatisfied tone
of the poem as Mrs Sisphus grows more impatient with her husband’s obsession with useless work. Lastly, we see
that these words rhyme with “work”, which appears at the end of the poem and is the main focus on the
husband. This gives us the idea that Mrs Sisyphus’ life has become almost encompassed by her husband’s work
that it is seen in her language.

I could do something vicious to him with a dirk.

Think of the perks, he says.
What use is a perk, I shriek,
when you haven't time to pop open a cork
or go for so much as a walk in the park?
He's a dork.
Folk flock from miles around just to gawk.
They think it's a quirk,
a bit of a lark.
A load of old bollocks is nearer the mark.
He might as well bark
at the moon -
that's feckin' stone's no sooner up
than it's rolling back
all the way down.

- Caesura:​ the caesura in the second stanza slows down the pace of the poem and makes the start of the stanza
sound more like a conversation. However, we see that this conversation is recalled through Mrs Sisyphus’
perspective solely, which allows Duffy to shift the focus of the poem onto her struggles
- Anachronisms:​ the anachronisms expressed in the ​idioms​ “pop open a cork” (popping champagne) and a “walk in
the park” allow Duffy to subvert the original tale and give it a postmodern twist, making the struggles which Mrs
Sisyphus face more relatable to a contemporary audience. Ultimately, these anachronisms are used to express
how the husband’s focus on his work leads to him ignoring the needs of his wife.
- Monosyllabic rhyming:​ while the end-rhyming scheme in the first stanza is abandoned, Duffy continues with the
monosyllabic rhyming words that end with the letter ‘k’, like ‘park’ and ‘gawk’ and ‘lark’. The hard consonant
expresses Mrs Sisyphus’s spitting contempt for her husband.
- Colloquial language:​ Duffy uses British and Scottish colloquial terms within her poem (e.g. lark, bollocks). By
making the choice to use the words, Duffy develops a satirical and mocking tone that juxtaposes the seriousness
of the situation Sisyphus is in. Furthermore, this colloquial language use supports the dramatic monologue form
of the poem as well as its postmodern features.
- Metaphor:​ by saying he “might as well bark at the moon”, Mrs Sisyphus is comparing her husband to a dog. This
comparison doesn’t only accentuate his masculinity, but also suggests that his devotion to his work is
“animal-like” and inhumane.
- Line length:​ as can be seen in this stanza, the line length varies and follows a pattern of going from longer to
shorter. This emulates the repetitive and redundant actions of Sisyphus as he pushes the rock up the hill and it
rolls back down. Using this line length allows Duffy to express how Mrs Sispyhus’ frustration is repetitive and
ongoing, just like her husband’s actions

And what does he say?

Mustn't shirk -
keen as a hawk,
lean as a shark
Mustn't shirk!

- Hypophora:​ the hypophora in this section allows Duffy to illustrate the mocking nature of Mrs Sisyphus as she
narrates what Sisyphus says to her. Ultimately, the fact that the entire poem is conveyed through Mrs Sisyphus’
perspective allows Duffy to empower her and give her control over her narrative
- Half-rhyme:​ the half-rhyme of the words “shirk, hawk, shark” suggests that there’s something missing in their
relationship. The response of the husband to the wife’s dissatisfaction is focused on his work, and we see that he
neglects her needs and feelings and cares more about his useless task than his relationship with his wife.
- Parallelism:​ the repetition of the phrase “​blank​ as a ​blank​” suggests that Sisyphus cannot think of anything else
than his job. Additionally, by comparing himself to a “hawk” and a “shark” Sisyphus is reduced to an animal,
suggesting that his devotion to his work is “animal-like” and inhumane.

But I lie alone in the dark,

feeling like Noah's wife did
when he hammered away at the Ark;
like Frau Johann Sebastian Bach.
My voice reduced to a squawk,
my smile to a twisted smirk;
while, up on the deepening murk of the hill,
he is giving one hundred per cent and more to his work.
- Tonal shift:​ the previously dissatisfied and annoyed tone become more sombre and hurt as Mrs Sispyhus critically
reflects on her relationship with her husband. The use of the word ‘but’ is an example of ​diction​ and was utilized
to indicate the shift in the poem as Mrs Sisyphus confesses her loneliness and sadness.
- Intertextual references/similes:​ the speaker makes reference to “Noah’s wife” and “Frau Johann Sebastian
Bach”. This doesn’t only reinforce the idea that women are seen as being the property of men and their only role
is being their wife, as was indicated in the poem’s title, but the speaker also exist as ​similes​ through which the
speaker compares her situation with other women who would have been neglected and ignored by their
husbands. For example, The Biblical Noah built the Ark at the command of God and the Bible, no less than any
other literature through the ages, is written largely from the point of view of the men, and the idea that Mrs Noah
felt abandoned and neglected while the Ark was built provides a poignant twist.
- Onomatopoeia:​ Mrs Sisyphus’ earlier angry voice is reduced to a ‘squawk’, an ​onomatopoeic​ word that imitates a
small squeaking sound. Her previously comical tone which we might picture as a broad grin of contempt on her
face has also been reduced to a ‘twisted smirk’. This supports the tonal shift.
- Diction:​ the “deepening murk” sounds very bleak, a metaphor for their marriage, and a hint that Mrs Sisyphus has
no solution and that their relationship will not be lightened in the future.
- Hyperbole:​ the hyperbole in the last line hints at workaholism and the idea that Sisyphus dedicates more effort
than he has to his task. The poem ends with Mr Sisyphus and his hopeless task. It is ​ironic​ that it ends with the last
single syllable word ending in ‘k’—the most significant one of all and the cause of the marital failure—‘work’.

- FINAL METAPHOR:​ Ultimately, this poem can be seen as an extended metaphor for the relationship between men
and women in the present day. The situation of Sisyphus can be seen as representing men who focus on their
work excessively (link to workaholism) and neglect their partners. Ultimately, the descriptions made by Mrs
Sisyphus and the tonal shift in the poem help illustrate the effects of the disrespect which women face in their
relationship.