Mrs. Midas

‘Mrs. Midas’ is an eleven-stanza poem that is separated into sets of six lines or sextets. It is in the form of a dramatic monologue, a style of writing that Duffy engaged infrequently. There is a single speaker, in this case, the wife of the mythological King Midas, known for his god-given ability to turn anything he touched into gold. This piece is one of a few included in her The World’s Wife Collection (published in 1999). It focuses, as do the others, on women unrecognized by history. Duffy creates a story for this character, refocusing the past from the female perspective. 

Summary

The poem begins with the speaker preparing a normal meal. Everything is as it should be until she sees something odd outside. Her husband is there, picking apples and twigs from the tree. It appears as if they are glowing. He comes inside, the doorknobs gleam, and he touches his wine glass. It immediately turns to gold.

She is shocked and horrified by his granted wish. There is nothing about it that she sees as miraculous or wonderful. Rather, she sends him to a different room and eventually drives him out to the woods where he has to live by himself.

His “gift” has ruined his life and violently disrupted the speaker. She is forced to move on, after a time. Mrs. Midas is left with only her memories of him.

Themes

‘Mrs. Midas’ by Carol Ann Duffy captures some important themes like lust, love, the physicality of love, myth vs realism, and motherhood. Mrs. Midas, the wife of the famous Greek mythical character, throws light on her relationship with her husband from a modern perspective. The retelling of the myth with the mixture of harsh realism makes the wife’s lamentation more appealing to modern readers. Moreover, the main theme of the poem is lust. For her sheer lust, Mrs. Midas married the person who can turn everything into gold. She shot for the gold and landed on the thorny bed of loneliness. As the poet imaginatively depicts, she sleeps alone and in the end left her husband to be free from his golden clutch.

Moreover, Duffy innovatively talks about the theme of love. The representation of Mrs. Midas in the poem reflects how a wife is truly committed to her husband. It had begun from the seed of lust but later love of Midad triumphs over her passion for gold. For this reason, in the end, she doesn’t need gold. All she wants, “his hands, his warm hands” on her skin and his human “touch”. Apart from that, there is also the theme of self-doubt in the poem.

Structure

‘Mrs. Midas’ by Carol Ann Duffy consists of eleven stanzas. Each stanza of the poem contains six internally rhyming lines. In line lengths, the poem more or less follows a pattern. However, in some cases, the lines are comparably short in syllable count. The poet uses the first-person point-of-view in the poem, making it an ideal example of a lyric. Moreover, there are certain elements of confessional poetry in the text. The flow of the poem is conversational and there are some pauses in between the lines.

Apart from that, the lines of the poem reflect a stream of thoughts that comes into Mrs. Midas’s mind. Thus, this poem also utilizes the stream-of-consciousness technique. There is an interesting metrical pattern in the poem. The poem contains both, the iambic meter and the trochaic meter, and the combination of both rhythms reflect the mental state of Mrs. Midas while she talks about herself.

Poetic Techniques

Alliteration is another common technique. It occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same letter. There are examples throughout ‘Mrs. Midas’ but in the second stanza reader might notice the repetition of words beginning with “p” such as “pluck” and “pear” and “putting.” This lends the poem an extra amount of rhythm and structure. Stanza four is another great example. These moments, in which the tension is building as the speaker realizes her husband’s power, are enhanced by alliteration. 

Enjambment occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. It forces a reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly. One has to move forward in order to comfortably resolve a phrase or sentence. This technique is scattered all over the text. It appears in all the stanzas. One example is the transition between lines five and six of the third stanza. Here, a reader must go down to the sixth line to see what Mrs. Midas is going to say. 

Analysis of Mrs. Midas 

Stanza One

It was late September. I’d just poured a glass of wine, begun
(…)
He was standing under the pear tree snapping a twig.

In the first stanza of ‘Mrs. Midas’  the speaker begins by telling the reader that it was late September when the following events occurred. She had just poured some wine, in an attempt to “unwind” from the day. This woman, who the title reveals to be the wife of the mythological King Midas from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, is acting as any other housewife would. She is cooking dinner, standing in the kitchen, and trying to relax. 

Duffy personifies the kitchen by describing it as having “steamy breath” that fogs up the windows. It is emitting its own smell, something attached to this speaker’s everyday life. At this point, this woman could be anyone. 

She goes to the window and opens it. There “he” is. Her husband is standing outside “under the pear tree snapping a twig.” This is a strange way to introduce someone, but it makes sense in the larger scheme of things. 

Stanza Two 

Now the garden was long and the visibility poor, the way
(…)
I thought to myself, Is he putting fairy lights in the tree?

The speaker admits that it was dark outside and that the “visibility” was poor, but she knows what she saw. When he held the branch in his hand it “was gold.” She describes the kind of pears they grew in their garden, but it doesn’t matter to Midas who plucks a pear from the tree, turning it gold as well. 

The speaker isn’t too concerned about what he’s doing and half-heartedly wonders if he’s putting “fairy lights in the tree.” She does not yet realize the gift that he has been given.

Stanza Three

He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed.
(…)
What in the name of God is going on? He started to laugh.

Her husband comes into the house in the third stanza and the “doorknobs gleamed.” They too were turned to gold. There is a vague reference in this line to something the speaker learned in school, the “Field of the Cloth and Gold.” It connects to the building of temporary palaces in Calais, France in 1520. 

The image of kings and royalty continues into the next lines as her husband sits down to eat. He is like a king at the table. His chair is a “burnished throne” and he has a strange and “wild” look on his face. This is his physical reaction to realizing that his wish has come true. The speaker on the other hand still doesn’t know what’s going on. She asks what “in the name of God is going on?” He doesn’t answer right away, instead, he laughs, keeping his secret to himself a little longer. 

Stanza Four

I served up the meal. For starters, corn on the cob.
(…)
as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.

Rather than interrogate him further, she decides to serve the meal in the fourth stanza of ‘Mrs. Midas.’ There is corn first, and he devours it. This is meant to make the couple seem normal, but in a few seconds, everything is going to change for them. Before any time has passed at all he’s spitting out the “teeth” of the corn. They are now “the teeth of the rich.” This metaphor compares the golden, teeth-shaped pieces of corn to something richer, teeth made of gold. They would only belong to the very wealthy. 

Before the pleasure of the gift is fully explored, the speaker is confronted with one of the biggest negatives. Truly, anything he touches turns to gold. There is tension building in the scene, something that is enhanced when Duffy uses the phrase “where was the wine.” The intense alliteration here makes the scene more serious. 

Her husband takes the wine and drinks, and all of a sudden it is not a simple glass, it is a “golden chalice.” The change happens quickly, a fact that Duffy illustrates with the use of commas and another prominent alliterative phrase, “glass, goblet, golden chalice.”

Stanza Five 

It was then that I started to scream. He sank to his knees.
(…)
The toilet I didn’t mind. I couldn’t believe my ears:

Rather than sit in amazement of his new talent, the speaker starts to scream. She is immediately worried about what this power is going to mean. He is on his knees, and she sends him to the other side of the room where he can’t touch her. The cat is locked in the “cellar” and she moved the phone out of the way. These are her priorities. In a moment of humour, Duffy’s speaker adds that she doesn’t mind if the toilet is transformed. 

Stanza Six 

how he’d had a wish. Look, we all have wishes; granted.
(…)
I said, you’ll be able to give up smoking for good.

There is a clever play on words in the next lines as the speaker considers the ridiculousness of their situation. She says, “granted,” everyone has a wish. But, only a few have “wishes granted.” It seems obvious now that, of course, her husband, who she thinks is a fool, had to get from the gods what he wanted. 

Her next thoughts show off her practicality, a feature that makes her very relatable. She considers gold, and the good it will really do for her and those around her. It does nothing really. It doesn’t feed anyone. She is wondering, what is really the use of this power? There is another moment of humor as the speaker muses on the fact that finally, her husband is going to be able to give up smoking. 

Stanza Seven 

Separate beds. in fact, I put a chair against my door,
(…)
the kiss that would turn my lips to a work of art.

Without any introduction or explanation, the seventh stanza of ‘Mrs. Midas’  begins with the two-word statement: “Separate beds.” This is something which really should go without saying. There’s no way they could sleep together. But clearly, the speaker is worried that he’s going to try something. She puts her “chair against” the door. She is using the words “near petrified.” This is another interesting phrase as it relates to the state she would be in if she were touched by her husband’s hand. 

Her terror goes on upstairs, while below her, her husband is turning the bedroom into the “tomb of Tutankhamen.” This works in two different ways. King Tut’s tomb is known today for its riches, but at the same time, it is still a tomb. The fact that the bedroom is becoming one symbolizes the end of their relationship. 

This change of circumstances is not welcomed by the speaker. She would rather not sleep in separate rooms. She tells the reader that at this point in their marriage they were quite happy with one another and spent many hours “unwrapping each other.” Duffy makes use of a simile comparing their bodies and clothes to fast food that one tear into greedily. 

His “honeyed embrace” is not longed for now. She fears that any kiss from him would turn her lips “to….art.” She would become the petrified one, immediately transformed into a golden statue. 

Stanza Eight

And who, when it comes to the crunch, can live
(…)
burned in my breasts. I woke to the streaming sun.

Duffy flips a familiar metaphor on its head in the eighth stanza of ‘Mrs. Midas.’ The saying “heart of gold” takes on a very different meaning. It is no longer something to strive for, but rather fear. She worries all night about what’s going to happen next. It is also made clear to the reader that there is one thing plaguing her mind more than anything, that she isn’t going to get to have a child. 

When she imagines it now, she sees it with “amber eyes” and “ore limbs.” Her breath will not hold milk and she’s going to have to keep her child in her dreams. Two more examples of alliteration appear in the last lines here with “streaming sun” and “burned…breasts.” 

Stanza Nine

So he had to move out. We’d a caravan
(…)
parking the car a good way off, then walking.

Although she mourned (briefly) the loss of the relationship there is nothing to be done about it. She states bluntly that he “had to move out.” She needed him out of the house as quickly as possible. They get in the car and she takes him into the woods, somewhere she thinks he can’t hurt anyone. 

It was dark when they drove, and he sat in the back as if trying to hide. After passing him off to his new home, she sees herself as “the woman who married the fool / who wished for gold.” His gift appears to be more of a burden on her than on him. There was a brief period where she went to go visit him. When she did so, she parked the car “a good way off,” just in case something went wrong.

Stanza Ten

You knew you were getting close. Golden trout
(…)
from the woods. Listen. That was the last straw.

When she approached the campsite, there was always evidence to let her know that she was getting close. There would be animals transformed and glistening footprints near the river. When she saw him, he was in a sad state. He had thinned and appeared delirious. Her husband told her that he heard the “music of Pan / from the woods.” Pan was another Greek god, one associated with music, the woods, shepherds, and by necessity, isolation. 

A reader should consider the fact that Midas got everything he ever wanted, and its presence in his life ruined him. He could be rich beyond all measure, but he is poor, alone, and losing his mental faculties. 

Stanza Eleven

What gets me now is not the idiocy or greed
(…)
even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch.

In the last six lines of ‘Mrs. Midas’  the speaker expresses her irritation over his lack of consideration for what would happen to their relationship. She sees his wish as being nothing but selfish self-indulgence. Rather than sticking around in the history of their lives together, she decided to sell the house and move. 

There are times now in which she still thinks of him. His memory comes to her when the light is placed in one particular way, or when she sees a bowl of apples. Of all the things she misses, the most prominent in her mind is his hands. 

Rhyming

The lines do not follow a regular pattern of rhyme, but there are a few moments in which the end rhymes are perfect, or are connected due to assonance or consonance. This is the use and reuse of vowel or constant sounds. It results in half or slant rhymes. Duffy chose to make use of these scattered instances of rhyme in order to provide the text with some rhythmic unity, but not get bogged down by a particular structure. This technique also ensures that the focus remains on the narrative and the female speaker.

Some examples of these rhymes in action can be found at the end of the second stanza and the beginning of the third. The words “tree” and “gleamed” are connected due to the long “e” sound. There are also moments within the lines themselves. Such as that between “wine” and “unwind” in lines one and two of the first stanza. Consonance is also present in this same section, in the words “filled” and “smell,” the double “l” repeats itself noticeably.

Feminist Analysis

‘Mrs. Midas’ by Carol Ann Duffy is an explicit portrayal of Midas’ wife. Duffy doesn’t talk much about the famous Greek character, rather her focus is on Mrs. Midas only. Moreover, the poet doesn’t mention her name throughout the next. She is referred to as “Mrs. Midas”, the wife. It’s a reaction against the patriarchal society which doesn’t count a wife’s identity. She is referred to as someone’s wife or mother. Moreover, another important feminist perspective of the poem is that it solely portrays the mental world of Mrs. Midas. Her wishes, thoughts, and mental suffering do matter for the poet. If history highlights Midas and others like him, Duffy prefers to highlight their wives, the better halves of the whole of humanity.

Moreover, the poet uses an innovative diction that doesn’t resonate with the conventions. The poet chooses a unique style that can sufficiently depict the thoughts of women in longing and pain. The feminine body of the poem has a differing flow. It depicts how a woman thinks and feels. Apart from that, a woman’s physical needs get emphasized in the poem. The poet doesn’t shame away from the fact that Mrs. Midas or a woman also has physical needs. Long back society didn’t give importance to their desires and passions. What mattered, was the dominance of the phallus.

Similar Poetry

Like ‘Mrs. Midas’, one of the best poems of Carol Ann Duffy, here is a list of a few poems that presents the importance of a woman’s voice and highlights her desires.

• In Mrs. Tilscher’s Classby Carol Ann Duffy – In this poem, Carol Ann Duffy talks about the character of Mrs. Tilscher and her teaching style.
• Medusa by Carol Ann Duffy – Carol Ann Duffy describes the mental world of the Greek mythical character, Medusa, and talks about how she also has emotions like other women.
• Sisyphus by Carol Ann Duffy – Mrs. Sisyphus like Mrs. Midas is a wife and a sufferer. Both of them, aren’t satisfied with their married lives. In Mrs. Sisyphus’ case, she suffers from the passivity of her husband and his dedication to his work only.
• Nameless Pain by Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard – In this poem, Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard talks about a woman’s pain for her inability to live life as she wants.

You can read about 10 Things I Hate About You Poem here.