Mrs. Faust By: Carol Ann Duffy

Mrs. Faust By: Carol Ann Duffy

First things first - I married Faust. We met as students, shacked up, split up, made up, hitched up, got a mortgage on a house, flourished academically, BA. MA. Ph.D. No kids. Two towelled bathrobes. Hers. His. We worked. We saved. We moved again. Fast cars. A boat with sails. A second home in Wales. The latest toys – computers, mobile phones. Prospered. Moved again. Faust’s face was clever, greedy, slightly mad. I was as bad. Mrs. Faust

I grew to love the lifestyle, not the life. He grew to love the kudos, not the wife. He went to whores. I felt, not jealousy, but the chronic irritation. I went to yoga, t’ai chi, Feng Shui, therapy, colonic irrigation. And Faust would boast at dinner parties of the cost of doing deals out East. Then take his lust to Soho in cab, to say the least, to lay the ghost, get lost, meet panthers, feast. Mrs. Faust

He wanted more. I came home late one winter’s evening, hadn’t eaten. Faust was upstairs in his study, in a meeting. I smelled cigar smoke, hellish, oddly sexy, not allowed. I heard Faust and the other laugh aloud. Next thing, the world, as Faust said, spread its legs. First politics - Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG. Than banks - offshore, abroad - and business - Vice-chairman. Chairman. Owner. Lord. Mrs. Faust

Enough? Encore! Faust was Cardinal, Pope, knew more than God; flew faster than the speed of sound around the globe, lunched; walked on the moon, golfed, holed in one; lit a fat Havana on the Sun. Then backed a hunch - invested in smart bombs, in harms, Faust dealt in arms. Faust got in deep, got out. Bought farms, cloned sheep. Faust surfed the internet for like-minded Bo Peep. Mrs. Faust

Faust was in. A word, he said, I spent the night being pleasured by a virtual Helen of Troy. Faced that launched a thousand ships. I kissed its lips. Thing is - I’ve made a pact with Mephistopeheles, the Devil’s boy. He’s on his way to take away what’s owed, reap what I sowed. For all these years of gagging for it, going for it, rolling in it, I’ve sold my soul. Mrs. Faust

As for me, I went my own sweet way, saw Rome in a day, spun gold from hay, had a facelift, had my breasts enlarged, my buttocks tightened; went to China, Thailand, Africa, returned enlightened. Turned 40, celibate, teetotal, vegan, Buddhist, 41. Went blonde, redhead, brunette, went native, ape, berserk, bananas; went on the run, alone; went home. Mrs. Faust

At this, I heard a serpent’s hiss tasted evil, knew its smell, as scaly devil’s hands poked up right through the terracota Tuscan tiles at Faust’s bare feet and dragged him, oddly smirking, there and then straight down to Hell. Oh, well. Faust’s will left everything - the yacht, the several houses, the Lear jet, the helipad, the loot, et cet, et cet, the lot - to me. Mrs. Faust

C’est la vie. When I got ill it hurt like hell. I bought a kidney with my credit card, then I got well. I keep Faust’s secret still - the clever, cunning, callous bastard didn’t have a soul to sell. Mrs. Faust

Diamonds and Madoff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_N9vVlYr_Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNQpnbwH14

Mark Up

Faust the Legend • German Legend • A scholar who sells his soul to the devil in return for power and enlightenment • Based on a non-fictional magician that habituated Northern Germany in the 15th century • Legend is the inspiration for Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s Faust and Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

Faust the Legend • Plot: • Faust loses his faith • Becomes a black-magic sorcerer and calls upon the Devil. • The demon Mephistopheles enters • Mephistopheles becomes Faust’s server for his soul. • Accomplishes nothing with his new-found power. • In the legend he is condemned but in the Goethe’s play he is forgiven and saved.

Form • 9 lines • 15 stanzas • Length of Lines: 3 syllabus-12 syllabus • Free verse poem • Fast-moving rhythm • The use of the “s” sound (“students”, “shacked”, “sails”, “least”, “lost”, “parties”, “deals”, “sexy”, etc.) • Velocity of life • Abundance of material goods • Ours vs. His/hers

Form • Fast-moving rhythm • Slant Rhyme (abrupt and snappy like her life) • “Then take his lust/ to Soho in cab,/ to say the least,/ lay the ghost,” • End Rhyme and Full Rhyme • “way”, “day”, “hay” • Internal Rhyme • “returned enlightened” • Enjambment • “And Faust would boast/ at dinner parties” • “I heard Faust and the other/ laugh out loud”

Form • Fast-moving rhythm • Abundant use of periods, dashes, and enumeration. • “shacked up, spilt, up,/ made up, hitched up,” • Anaphora: “We worked. We saved./ We moved again.” • “First politics-/ Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. Kg./ Than banks-/ offshore, abroad-/and business-/ Vice-chairman. Chairman. Owner. Lord.”

Tone • Mocking Tone • “had a facelift,/ had my breast enlarged,/ my buttocks tightened;/ went to China, Thailand, Africa returned enlightened.” • Sarcastically and Ironic Tone • Verbal Irony: “Faust was Cardinal, Pope,/knew more than God;” • Situational Irony: “I bought a kidney/ with my credit card”

Diction • Informal Speech • Direct, conversational, and matter-of-a-fact • Repetition: “First things first” • “Next thing” • “Oh well” • Abundant Use of Personal Pronouns: • “I married Faust” (Stresses the unilateral relationship between them) • “We worked.” and “We saved” (Together at the first stanza) • “I grew to love”, “He went to whores”, “He wanted more”, etc. (After the first stanza there is a clear division, Me vs. Him)

Built on an allusion of the legend of Faust. • Dramatic Monologue • Financial transaction vs. romantic relationship • Directed to the superficial upper-class house wives Literal Meaning

What happens? • Mrs. Faust marries a very successful man who cares more about money, hobbies, and prostitutes than about her. • Mr. Faust dies and she gets to keep everything. Literal Meaning

Two fictional characters • Represent the vanities and lifestyle of the high-rollers. • Materialism (critical of our modern society) • Shallow lifestyle • Accumulation of Money and Power • Individualism • Lack of real commitment with others • Abuse of power by men • Submissive Women (wife and prostitutes) • Lack of care for everything but money, power, and lust. Figurative Meaning: Main Ideas

Literary Devices: Allusions • Allusion to Faust • Mr. and Mrs. Faust are “intellectuals” • “BA. Ma. PHD.” • Faust sells his soul to the Devil • ‘’I’ve made a pact with Mephistopheles, the Devil’s boy.” • “For all these years of/ gagging for it,/ going for it,/rolling in it,/ I’ve sold my soul.” • Too Materialistic (lost of soul) • “I keep Faust’s secret still/the clever cunning, callous bastard/ didn’t have soul to sell.” • Lack of passion or love or any human emotions • Prostitutes and internet porn • I spend the night being pleasured by a virtual Helen of Troy.” • “ Faust surfed the internet for like-minded Bo Peep.”

Literary Devices: Allusions • Difference between Faust and Mrs. Faust • Faust in the legend is a tired intellectual who wants fame, recognition, and notoriety. • Allusion to notoriety and lust • “Then take his lust/ to Soho in cab,/ to say the least,/ to lay the ghost,/ get lost, meet panthers, feast.” • “I smelled cigar smoke,/ hellish, oddly sexy, not allowed./ I heard Faust and the other laugh aloud.” • Allusion to power and recognition • “Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG.” • “Vice-chairman. Chairman. Owner. Lord.”

Literary Devices: Irony & Enumerations • Difference between Faust and Mrs. Faust • Mrs. Faust is just as guilty • She is shallow and materialistic→ alone → soulless • “had a facelift,/ had my breasts enlarged,/ my buttocks tightened;/ went to China, Thailand, Africa,/ returned enlightened.” • “Turned 40, celibate,/ teetotal, vegan,/ Buddhist, 41.Went blonde,/ redhead, brunette,/ went native, ape,/ berserk,/ bananas;/ went on the run, alone;/ went home.” • “BA. MA. Ph.D. No kids.” • However, these materials goods do not satisfy her. • “I went to yoga, t’ai chi./ Feng Shui, therapy, colonic irrigation.”

Literary Devices: Irony & Enumerations • Difference between Faust and Mrs. Faust • Situational Irony: • “I bought a kidney/ with my credit card.” • “Oh well. / Faust’s will (…) the lot- to me.” • “C’est la vie.” • Lack of love • “I grew to love the lifestyle,/ not the life./ He grew to love the kudos,/ not the wife.” • Although he is the one punished they are equally as guilty; both greedy but for different things.

Literary Devices: Hyperbole • Exaggerates positive and negative aspects of the lives of her husband and herself. • Her vanity • “Saw Rome in a day,/ spun gold from hay,” • His knowledge and power: • “Faust was Cardinal, Pope,/ knew more than God;/ flew faster than the speed of sound/ around the globe,/ lunched;/ walked on the moon,/ golfed, holed in one;/ lit a fat Havana on the Sun.” • “cloned sheep” • Both sell their souls • Materialistic vs. Egotistical

To what extend is money needed to achieve happiness? Are money and power goals by themselves or instruments to achieve superior objectives? • To what extend are Mr. and Mrs. Faust Machiavellian? Do their goals justify their means? • Meaning, what are the ethical limits to our means. Discussion Questions

http://www.faust.com/ • Pictures: • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Da1_vI5bPQ/TrmW-SkPF3I/AAAAAAAABDA/TTgHZ20km2o/s1600/060724_Faust_VL.widec.jpg • http://www.carolaludolff.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/paris-hilton-shopping-sydney-michelle-jpg1.jpeg • http://www.arch.columbia.edu/files/gsapp/imceshared/atm2126/20090302_dancing_0041.JPG • http://images.askmen.com/galleries/singer/dolly-parton/pictures/dolly-parton-picture-3.jpg • http://remote.lohudblogs.com/files/2009/01/53460.jpg • http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/perspectives.jpg Sources

Mrs. Faust By: Carol Ann Duffy