Ayaat Abo-Gulel
Answer
Context
I agree with the following statement, Duffy often uses mythology and cliches in her literature to help highlight her ideas
on love. In the poem Answer, Duffy uses the totemic power of Medusa to describe the lover, in a negative situation. This
allusion to mythology helps to build the idea of the speaker willing to risk anything for the lover even if it means
endangering themselves. These complex and enhanced connotations that Duffy uses in her poetry, encourage the reader to
understand the point she is trying to get across to her audience, about the idea of love and how powerful it is. Duffy’s use
of cliches could signify the fact that even cliches are overlooked and said to have no original thought, it highlights the idea
that the concept of love is universal, and that the feelings are not all that ‘unique’ and many people are able to relate to
situations. This would therefore inspire her audience to speak about the subject instead of being afraid of the idea of love.
Stylistics Analysis
Language
50. The effect of the repetition of ‘if’ on every first line of each stanza in the poem shows a tone of questioning, as well as
creating possibilities/scenarios, it shows that even if the partner was in those situations described, the speaker would
continue to stay, therefore highlighting the encompassing nature of love and how it has enlightened onto the speaker.
51. The elemental exploration is used by Duffy as she uses the histroic traditional concept of the four elements; earth,
water, fire, air. Ancient Greeks believed that these elements are what make up the entirety of our world. This can relate to
the speaker in the sense that her love/world is totally encompassed by the lover who encapsulates in metaphorical terms,
these elements. Further evaluating the power of love and how it can be all-consuming.
52. The last line of each stanza serves the idea of the writer accepting the negatives of her lover. That even if the lover
was all these bad things that the speaker’s answer would still be ‘yes’, which is emphasized using epizeuxis’ by Duffy.
“Yes, yes”. This therefore shows the reader how deeply in love the speaker is, that even if their lover was the worst of all
things, the speaker would continue to love them, this indicates how love can cause a person to almost become delusional
towards recognising the negatives; love is trapping and can become dangerous.
53. Duffy conveys her attitude towards love in this poem by evolving the majority of the poem around the speaker’s lover
and not themselves, the speaker is hardly mentioned. This creates the attitude that love is like a drug, and can become a
dangerous obsession if you are not careful, it can trap a person and eventually become toxic as anything that may happen,
the lover may always forgive and stay with the person, which can be damaging for them. Duffy shows the negative
aspects to being in a relationship.
Form and structure
54/55. The poem takes the form of five stanzas which each consists of six lines, with each first line starting with ‘If’,
middle lines of first four beginning with ‘your’ and each last line ending with ‘yes, yes’. Each fourth line of each stanza is
in iambic pentameter. There is no rhyme scheme in this poem, therefore it is written in free verse. And the first four
stanzas are in order of the four elements, where the last stanza has these elements just in the opposite order, this could be a
suggestion of reflection.
Critical and theoretical approaches
This links to feminism as the fact that women are still receiving negativity because of men for example such the
limitations in the work environment which stops women from rising and achieving higher roles. These circumstances
show how important it is for women to stand independently and loudly state how this discrimination against genders is
unacceptable, and that it should no longer be a social norm. Women should not be looked on as ‘weak’ and ‘incapable of
doing things themselves’, as well as should be treated equally to the other gender. In aspects to relationships where a
woman is expected not to speak about ‘love’ or their natural ‘sexual desires’. This therefore would have influenced Duffy
in exploring the idea of normalising women being able to speak upon sexual features of relationships, which Duffy then
writes about in her poems, disregarding the expectations of her era and influencing others to join her in becoming
confidentially outspoken without the fear of judgement. Duffy is shown to be a strong female figure for others as she is
not afraid to dive into deeper emotions in her poems, which can be a scary especially when it comes to complex subjects
such as love.
