Standing Female Nude Carol Ann Duffy

1. Standing Female NudeCarol Ann Duffy Ahilya Lom

2. Standing Female Nude Fan Based Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXm2wEzyww

3. Background • Originally a book with compilations of poems of similar structure and style • Part of first collection of poems • Paris • Nude Artists • Hard Life • Time Period: 1980’s • In first person

4. Six hours like this for a few francs.Belly nipple arse in the window light,he drains the color from me. Further to the right,Madame. And do try to be still.I shall be represented analytically and hungin great museums. The bourgeoisie will cooat such an image of a river-whore. They call it Art.Maybe. He is concerned with volume, space.I with the next meal. You're getting thin,Madame, this is not good. My breasts hangslightly low, the studio is cold. In the tea-leavesI can see the Queen of England gazingon my shape. Magnificent, she murmurs,moving on. It makes me laugh. His nameis Georges. They tell me he's a genius.There are times he does not concentrateand stiffens for my warmth.He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brushrepeatedly into the paint. Little man,you've not the money for the arts I sell.Both poor, we make our living how we can. I ask him Why do you do this? BecauseI have to. There's no choice. Don't talk.My smile confuses him. These artiststake themselves too seriously. At night I fill myselfwith wine and dance around the bars. When it's finishedhe shows me proudly, lights a cigarette. I sayTwelve francs and get my shawl. It does not look like me.

5. Markup Marking Key Alliteration Imagery Sentence Structure Allusion Figurative Language Sexual Reference Juxtaposition Enjambment Six hours like this forafewfrancs. Belly nipple arse in the window light, he drains the color from me. Further to the right, Madame. And do try to be still. I shall be represented analytically and hung in great museums. The bourgeoisie will coo at such an image of a river-whore. They call it Art. Maybe. He is concerned with volume, space. I with the next meal. You're getting thin, Madame, this is not good. My breasts hang slightly low, the studio is cold. In the tea-leaves I can see the Queen of England gazing on my shape.

6. Markup Contd. Magnificent, she murmurs, moving on. It makes me laugh. His name is Georges. They tell me he's a genius. There are times he does not concentrate and stiffens for my warmth. He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brush repeatedly into the paint. Little man, you've not the money for the arts I sell. Both poor, we make our living how we can.

7. Markup Contd. I ask him Why do you do this? Because I have to. There's no choice. Don't talk. My smile confuses him. These artists take themselves too seriously. At night I fill myself with wine and dance around the bars. When it's finished he shows me proudly, lights a cigarette. I say Twelve francs and get myshawl. It does not look like me.

8. Form • 28 Lines • 4 Stanzas • Free verse • Frequent enjambment, imagery and sexual reference • Narration: First person

9. Literal Meaning • Nude model posing for an artist • Dissatisfied with her life • Similar to the artist • Poor people trying to make a living • Setting: Studio • Tone: Pitiful, sad, somber • She feels as if she is selling herself to earn basically nothing • Reality: He is of a higher social class than her

10. Figurative Meaning • Selling her body = Sex = Prostitution • Through her Perspective = She is of a higher class than he • He is a genius artist • She is a starving prostitute who gets a few franks for standing for a few hours • He can’t afford to spend a night with her though he can afford to go to social gatherings with the elite (Bourgeoisie) • She will be observed in famous museums • Ironically, at the end of the poem, the artist has failed to capture her essence and beauty

11. Sexual Reference • “There are times he does not concentrate/ and stiffens for my warmth.” (Stanza 3, Lines 2-3) • “he dips the brush” (Stanza 3, Lines 4-5) • “lights a cigarette” (Stanza 4, Line 6)

12. Allusion • “Bourgeoisie” (Stanza 1, Line 6) • “river-whore” (Stanza 1, Line 7) • “You're getting thin” (Stanza 2, Lines 2-3) • “Queen of England gazing/ on my shape” (Stanza 2, Lines 5-6) • “Don't talk” (Stanza 4, Line 2)

13. Imagery • “Belly nipple arse” (Stanza 1, Line 2) • “My breasts hang/ slightly low” (Stanza 2, Lines 3-4) • “he dips the brush/ repeatedly into the paint” (Stanza 3, Lines 4-5)

14. Juxtaposition • “Six hours like this forafewfrancs” (Stanza 1, Line 1) • “He is concerned with volume, space./ I with the next meal” (Stanza 2, Lines 1-2)

15. Sentence Structure • “Further to the right,/ Madame. And do try to be still.” (Stanza 1, Lines 4-5) • “You're getting thinMadame,/ this is not good” (Stanza 2, Lines 2-3) • “Why do you do this? Because I have to. There's no choice” (Stanza 4, Lines 1-2) • “Twelve francs and get myshawl” (Stanza 4, Line 7)

16. Discussion Questions • How would the poem have been different if it was from the point of view of the painter? • What do the different references to government in the poem say about the political figures? • Who seems more powerful at the end of the poem? The model or the painter? • Why does the model tell the painter not to talk? • How does this poem relate to One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest?

17. Bibliography • http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/carol-ann-duffy • http://www.helium.com/items/2304682-poetry-analysis-standing-female-nude-by-carol-ann-duffy • http://www.markedbyteachers.com/as-and-a-level/art-design/standing-female-nude-by-carol-ann-duffy.html • http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_49.70.34.jpg • http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01879/CarolAnnDuffy_jpg-_1879313c.jpg