The World's Wife - Mrs Midas by Ruby's Padlets ♥

Mrs Midas

140071 — 2014-09-21 13:24:39 UTC

This poem is about the wife of King Midas who

had his wish that everything he touched would turn

to gold, granted by Dionysos.

Blog Link!

140071 — 2014-09-21 13:32:20 UTC

Here is a brilliant blog i found, that has pretty good analysis of most of the poems

in 'The World's Wife' concerning mythology

http://theworldswifeandme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/demeter.html

Some Background...

140071 — 2014-09-21 13:43:27 UTC

Midas was a king that had a wish granted that everything he touched

would be turned to gold. In some versions of his story, he regrets this

power because he turns his daughter into gold. Another reference to

Midas in mythology is that he bet on Pan having better music compared

to Apollo, so for his insolence Apollo gave him donkey's ears.

Analysis

140071 — 2014-09-21 13:45:41 UTC

'Mrs Midas' has a domestic setting, shown through Mrs. M starting out the poem in a kitchen. "The kitchen filled with the smell of itself". This could be used as a stereotype, for women always having to be in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the man.

140071 — 2014-09-21 13:52:53 UTC

Quote

140071 — 2014-09-21 14:01:08 UTC

"The look on his face was strange, wild, vain." Power of three is used here to show King Midas' feelings.

Quote 2

140071 — 2014-09-21 14:03:25 UTC

"It was late September. I just poured some wine" - conversational, as if Mrs Midas is talking to a friend. (Colloquialism)

Structure of the poem

140071 — 2014-09-21 14:07:30 UTC

The poems structure is eleven six-line unrhymed stanzas. It reads almost like prose with lots of run-over lines and not much evidence of rhythm in the writing. However, there is plenty of rhythm in the ideas, as concepts build on each other and relationships between concepts become clear to the reader. It is a poem that works well when read aloud, because the reader can add pauses that emphasize the links, and a number of these only become clear on a second or third reading when the words are read on the page

Humour or not?

140071 — 2014-09-21 14:21:57 UTC

Comedy and horror are cleverly intertwined. Mrs Midas describes how she made Knig Midas tell his story, and the precautions she took to ensure that he kept “his hands to himself” although “the toilet I didn’t mind”. Presumably the thought of sitting on a golden throne appealed to her!

Poetry...

140071 — 2014-09-21 14:32:06 UTC