Anne Hathaway (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note
This study guide to Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Anne Hathaway’ contains:
Overview
Authorial purpose
Authorial choices and textual features
Themes
Connections to other Duffy poems
Overview
The poem was first published in 1999 in the collection The World’s Wife
The collection consists of poems from the perspectives of women connected to, or reimagined from, famous men in myth, history, literature, film and popular culture
Duffy offers a retelling of their experiences to challenge the dominant male perspective
‘Anne Hathaway’ gives voice to the wife of William Shakespeare:
The epigraph is from Shakespeare’s will, in which he left the ‘second-best bed’ to his wife
Long interpreted as a slight, Duffy reimagines it from Hathaway’s perspective
The bed in Hathaway’s voice becomes a celebration of love and intimacy
Authorial purpose
Duffy’s aim with the collection is to challenge dominant male perspectives and narratives
She offers multiple and complex versions of womanhood
The poem explores love, memory and female desire
The poem can be read as challenging patriarchal assumptions about women’s roles and voices
Duffy had a long relationship with the poet Adrien Henri that started when she was 16, and he was 39:
Henri was not faithful and aspects of the poem may be inspired by this personal experience
Authorial choices and textual features
Form
‘Anne Hathaway’ is a sonnet-like poem:
Shakespeare popularised the form
Duffy plays with it here by following some its norms and foregoing others
She offers a contemporary, gyno-text version of it
The poem breaks with the traditional rhyme scheme of a sonnet:
It uses an irregular rhyme scheme rather than a traditional sonnet pattern
It ends on a rhyming couplet
The break with tradition, but keeping elements of it, makes it seem like a conversation between the speaker and her husband
Frequent use of caesura and enjambment makes the poem flow like the echoes of the couple’s loving embraces
Structure
The title alludes to the wife of William Shakespeare
The use of the epigraph before the poem starts links it with Shakespeare’s words and wishes
The speaker is a dramatic persona based on Anne Hathaway:
She takes control after the epigraph
The tone is nostalgic and affectionate
Language
The bed is a central motif:
It can be interpreted as an extended metaphor for the couple’s love
The speaker uses imagery (opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab)and metaphors to describe their love as magical and transformative:
Many of these are linked to art and language
Their love is compared to Shakespeare’s beautiful artistic creations
Alliteration and assonance give the lines a poetic feel:
Their love is raised to the level of poetry
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Using subject-specific terminology when identifying the poem as a dramatic monologue is a useful starting point. Strong responses go further by explaining how Carol Ann Duffy uses this form to reconstruct Anne Hathaway’s perspective and reposition her as the central voice of meaning.
Themes
The power of love between equals
Duffy often explores love as a source of suffering in her poetry. Here, however, love is magical and transformative; it is as precious and beautiful as great art. This love is presented as being between equals: the reader can infer mutual respect and agency. Furthermore, the speaker revels in the intimacy and sensuality of the love. There is no taboo or shame around this, so Duffy’s poem becomes a celebration of female desire.
Theme | Quotation | Analysis and interpretation |
Power of love between equals | ‘The bed we loved in was a spinning world/ of forests, castles, torchlight, cliff-tops, seas/ where he would dive for pearls.’ |
|
‘my body now a softer rhyme/ to his, now echo, assonance; his touch/ a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.’ |
| |
‘Some nights I dreamed he’d written me, the bed/ a page beneath his writer’s hands. Romance/ and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.’ |
| |
‘In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,/ dribbling their prose.’ |
| |
‘My living laughing love –/ I hold him in the casket of my widow’s head/ as he held me upon that next best bed.’ |
|
Connections to other Duffy poems
When studying Duffy’s poetry, it is important to make connections across her work, as many poems explore similar ideas through different speakers and situations.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
In a Paper 2 response, it is not enough to use only one poem. You need to be able to compare Duffy’s poetry as a whole while zooming in on particular examples from particular poems to support your claims.
In the IO, you will need to analyse an extract from one poem, but extend your exploration to Duffy’s work as a whole.
Representation
Duffy seeks to represent the plurality of the female experience in her work. She is concerned with giving voice to those who may not traditionally have been heard. Duffy frequently aims to represent different aspects of the female experience. In this poem, she strives to represent the power of love between equals. The poem celebrates female sensuality. It is a representation of the power and beauty of this.
‘Warming her Pearls’ | ‘Demeter’ | ‘Standing Female Nude’ |
|
|
|
Sources:
‘Anne Hathaway’ by Carol Ann Duffy https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/anne-hathaway (opens in a new tab)
Unlock more, it's free!
Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams
the (exam) results speak for themselves:
Was this revision note helpful?
