Analysis Of How Carol Ann Duffy Conveys The Experience Of The Narrator With Refernece To Marxist Criticism
In Duffy’s poems ‘Warming her Pearls’, ‘Standing Female Nude’ and ‘Little Red Cap’ the experiences of the proletariat are central to the narrative of the poems. Through a materialist conception of history, it is evident that each narrator voices perspective at different stages of the capitalist mode of production, incrementally building up to the allusion of Proletarian revolution. The experiences of each speaker are defined by the alienation from their labour and subsequent commodification of their emotions, resistance to cultural hegemony and gaining of class consciousness. Duffy herself grew up in a working-class community in Staffordshire, her parents were committed socialists, her poetry is most often reflective of her own experiences entering poetry which has typically been the preserve of the middle classes. Consciously or not, much of Duffy’s work centres around the narratives that break normative societal expectations like Duffy herself who struggled to find her identity as a poet when she began publishing at 14. However, true to her roots Duffy politically identifies left of the spectrum and uses her poetry to give a voice to the underclass that has often been ignored in literature.
Each of the narrators experience alienation and commodification of their labour in accordance with the mode of production they exist under. The narrator of ‘Standing Female Nude’ stands as a model for Georges Braque with “Belly nipple arse in the window light” as “he drains the colour from me”. The narrator describes herself as an object, three successive nouns “belly nipple arse” lack a determiner as her own body parts, Duffy uses asyndeton and forgoes the use of commas in this stream of conscious style poem which even denies each part of the speaker’s body individuality from the others. This creates a forceful and bleak impression of the speaker’s self-image, though the narrative mode she does not even stop to consider their belonging but, in an offhand manner participates in the reification of her own body. Despite her own cynically nonchalant comments on her body and its labour, she still suffers at the detriment of the oppressive nature of the work she is forced to engage in “drains the colour from me”. Interestingly, the painting itself referred to in this poems the ‘’Grand Nu’ is a vibrant piece of work, the model is painted with flushed cheeks and a healthy glow against the backdrop of cool blues and flamboyant oranges yet the colour “he” drains from her is either brushed over to make her more palatable for public viewing or perhaps an emotional and psychological ‘drain’ tolls on her wellbeing. According to Marxist theory, this is representative perhaps of the exploitative and oppressive nature of the speaker’s work demonstrates how she has become alienated from her own body that she does not even bother to refer to it as hers anymore and views it as a mode of production for ‘a few francs’ by the artist.
In ‘Little Red Cap’ the speaker’s affections for the “greying wolf” are essentially purchased for sexual favours, she in return is given the opportunity of social mobility. The Wolf commodifies the narrator as he perceives her as “sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif “ and “bought me a drink” in order to access her sexually. Duffy establishes the speaker of the poem as working-class like herself as the poem is a semi-autobiographical account of her relationship with the poet Adrian Henri who was 23 years her senior. The phrasing “never been” alludes to her virginity which is treated as a commodity that can be lost or exchanged, in this case, she exchanges her virginity for “a drink” which implies he treats her with the maturity associated with being able to drink alcohol and a symbol of personal independence- she is willing “You might ask why. Here’s why. Poetry” wherein poetry acts as a platform of social mobility for the narrator.
She asserts herself with the short, choppy syntax of the verse which gives the impression of this being an autonomous and self-determined decision yet, it could also hint at a form of defensive regret as the verse flows like uncomfortable or unwilling speech projecting a confession as she betrays her class in aspiration for a bourgeois and decadent vocation. The exclusivity and sumptuousness of her exploration into literature is demonstrated in “the lair, where a whole wall was crimson, gold, aglow with books” the imagery of crimson and gold is one of luxury and wealth that is metaphorically the possession of intellectual wealth, the “whole wall” suggests some hint of excessiveness to the ‘wealth’ of the wolf which is typical of his values as a member of the intelligentsia. The narrator is willing to commodify her virginity and sexuality in exchange for the wolf’s experience and knowledge of poetry which itself is intrinsically linked to bourgeois intellectualism and would otherwise be exclusionary to the proletarian narrator. She later finds herself more so alienated from poetry and disillusioned by the once charismatic wolf who “Howls the same old song at the moon” now is depicted as animalistic and predictable. He was formerly associated with sophistication and eloquence with his “wolfy drawl’’ now the speaker highlights his more bestial nature. The speaker is now disenchanted by the wolf’s perspective on poetry and is disenchanted by his unoriginal and repetitive bourgeois values.
The speaker of ‘Warming her Pearls’ differs from the respective narratives as she has not attained class consciousness. Contextually, the narrator is comparatively at the earliest stage in the journey through capitalism in the perspective of a materialist conception of history and therefore as a member of the lumpenproletariat she does not conceptualise the necessity to challenge the innate inequality of society. The maid admires the mistress she works for and romanticises the relationship between them despite its oppressive nature. The narrator toils as “she fans herself whilst I work willingly, my slow heat entering each pearl”, there is a stark contrast between the class divisions of the two women which culminate in the symbolism of the fan and the pearls. Fans have been long recognised as a symbol of sophistication of the upper classes as seen in the status of the mistress; pearls, however, are a symbol of purity, integrity and generosity or the loyalty of the wearer which in this case is the narrator. She is generous with her labour as she “works willingly” and demonstrates her misplaced integrity as she dutifully lets her “slow heat” enter “each pearl”. The words “each” and “slow” emphasises the attentive and diligent nature of the maid who is devoted to serving her mistress. The poem is approximately set in the 19th century where class division and oppression of the proletariat is condoned within the superstructure of industrial capitalism. Therefore, the narrator lacks the means to gain class consciousness and according to Marxist theory she is allowed to exist within a state of false consciousness as the mode of production is too premature for social consciousness. Duffy successfully conveys the experience of alienation and commodification in accordance with the stage of capitalism the narrator inhabits, if the experiences of each narrator are assessed chronologically then it is evident that the sentiments the narrator is characterised to express become more sophisticated in their critique of their subjugation to capitalist society.
Across all of the poems discussed Duffy creates narrators that experience resistance to the cultural hegemony of capitalist society. In ‘Warming her Pearls’ this is expressed through the sapphic tone of the poem and the suggestion of a homosexual relationship or attraction between the narrator and her mistress. The narrator of ‘Standing Female Nude’ embraces her sexuality in adversity to the condemnation of promiscuity and female sexuality, however, this is problematised by the indication that she lacks autonomy as a sex worker as that it is her only means of survival.. In ‘Warming her Pearls’ Duffy uses the ventriloquized imaginings of a maid to express the attraction between her and her mistress. It is the close and sensual imagery, fine details remembered by the maid that give the impression of infatuation and adoration on her part. She knows her mistress has a ‘cool, white throat’ and how she will be ‘slipping naked into bed, the way/ she always does…’ The throat is a sensitive and intimate part of the body, especially for a woman of the mistress’ time and society. Though as a maid she would be familiar with dressing her mistress it is the fine details that give an air of eroticism to her description. Likewise, the knowledge that her mistress sleeps naked suggests they have some form of relationship beyond conventional means. She describes her ‘slipping’ into bed which conveys the idea of this as a soft or quick action – even one of secrecy. Duffy’s use of enjambment on the line ‘the way/ she always does’ implies that the speaker is somewhat reluctant to reveal this knowledge – it mimics a pause perhaps but nonetheless she cannot resist divulging. The narrator battles cultural hegemony by refusing heteronormative expectations of herself as heterosexuality is beneficial to capitalism as Sophie Monk & Joni Pitt state “heterosexuality is one of the techniques of bourgeois power deployed to secure this future”. The maid’s love for her mistress is an act of defiance but she is not totally conscious as she does not fully perceive the relationship between herself and her bourgeois mistress as oppressive.
Duffy’s narrator of ‘Standing Female Nude’ possesses a tongue-in-cheek, tart expression throughout the poem. She makes mocking innuendos about her client Georges Braque 'Little man,/ you’ve not the money for the arts I sell’ and jests at bourgeois ideas of high art ‘I can see the Queen of England gazing on my shape. Magnificent, she murmurs,/ moving on. It makes me laugh’. Despite her seemingly low status, she is brazen enough to mock Braque, a father of Cubism and a major 20th-century French painter making it evident she has no particular care any expected deference to Braque from her. The narrator throws off demurity my implying that Braque is not financially capable of paying for the narrator’s sexual services as well as referring to them as ‘arts’ suggesting she personally holds her work in high esteem. Though her body is often commodified in her line of profession, she resists this and rather as a member of the proletariat reclaims its value as an emotive and beautiful power, as an art. The narrator further implies the insincerity of these art connoisseurs and uses the example of the Queen of England who so freely calls Braque’s art ‘Magnificent’ but also rather dismissively is ‘moving on.’ demonstrating a perhaps a lack of any real interest in his work. Nonetheless, this does not ruffle the narrator, ‘It makes me laugh.’ is equally as dismissive, emphasised by Duffy’s use of enjambment to create the short syntax of the narrator’s comment on the Queen’s proclaimed love of art.
Therefore, the narrator is resistant to cultural hegemony as she makes no attempt to restrict her sexuality and is explicit about being a sex worker, she reclaims its value for herself by describing it as ‘the arts I sell’ and according to Marx ‘The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.’ However, the narrator rejects the hierarchy created under capitalist society and mocks the ‘cultured’ bourgeoisie and in turn Braque for being an enabler of their lifestyles. Yet, it is important to note that Duffy’s narrator is not completely free of her class chains. She talks about how she is concerned ‘with the next meal’ which implies this is something she does out of necessity to survive. This poem is approximately written about the early 20th century/ late 19th century- a period which not only saw great hardship and inequality but also one that provided little opportunity for women. Working class women could either toil in factories, work as domestic servants or become sex workers. This means it must be acknowledged that she is not fully in control of the means of her labour and her services are arguably non-consensual as she is still indirectly exploited under the capitalist mode of production which denies her better opportunity or means of living. Overall, it is evident that both narrators experience an internal resistance to cultural hegemony, both express it to an extent through their sexuality but externally conform in the form of their labour as a domestic servant that adores her mistress and a prostitute who takes on work as a model for the pleasure of the bourgeoisie.
