Carol Ann Duffy's "Pygmalion's Bride"

Carol Ann Duffy’s “Pygmalion’s Bride”

Context

Duffy’s poem “Pygmalion’s Bride” offers a new perspective on the story of Pygmalion featured in the Greek epic, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the tale, Pygmalion is the king of Cyprus, renowned for his sculpting ability. He creates a female figure from ivory and falls madly in love with it, praying to Venus who takes pity on him and brings the status to life. Duffy flips this tale on its head by offering a perspective from the statue which explores contemporary themes of objectification, the male gaze, sexuality, and the power imbalance between men and women.

Like other poems in Duffy’s collection, this poem is a dramatic monologue without classical form, meter, or rhyme. The speaker of the poem, the statue, describes how she resists Pygmalion’s advances, having to change her ways when he continues his behaviour.

Cold, I was, like snow, like ivory.

I thought He will not touch me,

But he did.

Think of what the speaker compares herself to: snow and ivory. What are the characteristics or symbolic connotations with these things or the colour white?

Is there any significance in “He”, referring to her sculptor Pygmalion, with a capital letter?

This first stanza is short, only three lines long, and ends abruptly. Is there any effect of this?

So far, the poem presents Pygmalion as touching the statue against her wishes; the statue hopes and thinks he won’t.

He kissed my stone-cool lips.

I lay still

As though I’d died.

He stayed.

He thumbed my marble eyes.

Duffy plays on the idea that the speaker is a statue by describing Pygmalion, against the statue’s will, “kiss[ing] [her] stone-cool lips.” Whilst she is a statue, the lips being compared to stone could be a metaphor implying what? So far, have you recognized a semantic field of coldness? How does this impact the poem?

What impact does this visual imagery have on the person? Does it evoke any particular images, thoughts, or feelings?

Do you notice the parallel structure? How does this emphasise the difference in the sculptor vs the statute, the man vs the woman?

Marble, as a material, has the characteristics of being what? What does this say about the speaker? Also, what effect does this violent imagery have?

Additionally, think of how both are characterised: the statue plays dead, but the sculptor continues with his advances.

He spoke –

Blunt endearments, what he’d do and how.

His words were terrible.

My ears were sculpture

Stone-deaf, shells.

I heard the sea.

I drowned him out.

I heard him shout.

Continuing with the sculptor/statue relationship, Duffy’s word “blunt” connotes a tool and the action of wearing something down. It also denotes his direct and indelicate remarks. In this context, to describe his remarks, what could this word imply?

Again, note the parallelism which juxtaposes the sculptor and the statue.

The speaker describes her ears as “stone-deaf”. What does this imply? Additionally, how does this add to the semantic field of coldness, along with snow, marple, snow, and ivory?

What does the metaphor describing her ears as shells imply?

The metaphor continues as she “drowns him out” with her “shells” or ears.

What impact does the rhyming couplet and parallel structure have here? How does it add to the juxtaposition?

What effect does the use of repetitive sibilant sounds have here?

He brought me presents, polished pebbles,

little bells.

I didn’t blink,

Was dumb.

He brought me pearls and necklaces and rings.

He called them girly things.

He ran his clammy hands along my limbs.

I didn’t shrink,

Played statue, shtum.

What effect does the consonance of plosive /b/ and /p/ sounds have?

Again, the statue remains passive which only seems to encourage the sculptor even more. Why is this significant? What is the poem commenting on?

What effect does the use of polysyndeton have here?

What is the sculptor’s tone towards these girly things? How does this characterise him?

What is the effect of the tactile imagery in “clammy hands along [her] limbs”?

What effect is achieved through the use of sibilance in this context?

Is there any significance in the diction of “played”? What might this be commenting on?

He let his fingers sink into my flesh,

He squeezed, he pressed.

I would not bruise.

He looked for marks,

For purple hearts,

For inky stars, for smudgy clues.

His nails were claws.

I showed no scratch, no scrape, no scar.

He propped me up on pillows,

Jawed all night.

My heart was ice, was glass.

His voice was gravel, hoarse.

He talked white black.

What effect does this tactile imagery have? How does it characterise Pygmalion, the sculptor? Is this added to by the structure, or the use of sibilance?

How does this line characterise the speaker?

The speaker uses several metaphors to describe bruises, such as “purple hearts” and “inky stars.” What effect do these two metaphors in particular have?

What is the effect of the animal imagery here? How does it characterise Pygmalion?

Is there any significance in the speaker’s use of asyndeton? What about the consonance?

Where does this imply the two are?

In this context, “jawed” denotes talking, but does it have any other associations?

In these lines, there is parallel structure which further contrasts the speaker and Pygmalion. There is also use of sibilance in “was ice was glass”, as well as obvious metaphors to compare his voice and her heart. What is the impact of all of this?

This use of hyperbole implies that he tried to change her nature, as one might try to convince white to be black.

So I changed tack,

Grew warm, like candle wax,

Kissed back,

Was soft, was pliable,

Began to moan,

Got hot, got wild,

Arched, coiled, writhed,

Begged for his child,

And at the climax

Screamed my head off –

All an act.

Through rhyme, the speaker connects the previous stanza to this. It is as though she is matching his energy.

Notice the rhyme in this stanza. What impact does this have? How does it change the tempo of the poem to match the speaker’s character? This is in conjunction with short phrases and asyndeton.

Notice as well that in this stanza, only the speaker is the subject of sentences. The only mention to Pygmalion is as an object when she says she “begged for his child.” In this stanza, the speaker clearly takes back control, emphasised by this.

The speaker growing warm, like a human body, almost implies she has finally come to life. The simile “like candle wax” suggests softness and flexibility, but also hot wax can burn and harm.

What impact does the assonance, repeating the short /o/ sound have in this context?

The diction in “coiled” and “writhed” might evoke images of what? What connotations do these words have?

This stanza has a lot of sexual imagery.

And haven’t seen him since.

Simple as that.

The final rhyme brings closure to the poem.

Think about it: The statue shows feminine sexual power and agency. Although she seemingly gives the sculptor what he wanted, sex, he actually runs away because she does it in a way which is powerful and free. What does this ending imply?