Student Question
Compare and contrast the poems "Warming Her Pearls" and "Medusa" by Carol Ann Duffy.
Quick answer:
There are many points of comparison between Carol Ann Duffy's "Warming Her Pearls" and "Medusa." Both poems are written from the perspectives of women and concern romantic relationships, and both speakers feel a distance between themselves and their beloved. They are both in free verse. In terms of contrast, one poem is about two women, while the other is about a woman and a man. One is hopeful and gentle in mood, while the other is vindictive and rageful.
Both of these poems by Carol Ann Duffy offer powerful female perspectives on the question of personal relationships. Both of them, arguably, take love as their major theme. However, in comparing and contrasting these poems, it is clear that they approach the subject from opposing viewpoints, while each poem is quite singular in terms of mood and theme.
When writing an analytical essay, you may find it easier to begin with similarities between the poems—points of comparison—and then go on to points of difference or contrast. This is generally a safer construction for an essay than writing about one poem first and the second afterwards. Alternatively, for better cohesion, you could move from point to point, exploring how far the theme or idea is shared between the two poems and then investigating the points of difference.
Points of comparison and contrast might include the following:
- Both poems are from...
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- the first-person perspective of a woman
- Both poems concern the speaker's feelings for a lover who exists at a remove from the speaker—in "Warming Her Pearls," the beloved is the speaker's mistress, set apart by class and gender. In "Medusa," the beloved is a "Greek God" who entertains other "girls," causing the speaker to become consumed by jealousy. So, while this is a point of comparison, it is also a point of contrast: where one poem is about two women, the other is about a woman and a man
- Both poems are written in free verse
- Both poems touch upon themes of entrapment and imprisonment within relationships: In "Warming Her Pearls," the speaker is "willing" to entertain her mistress's metaphorical "rope" which is "slack on her neck." In "Medusa," however, the speaker wields imprisonment as a threat. She suggests that it is better for her lover to be trapped in a tomb of stone, in her mind, than for him to be allowed to go on betraying her
- The moods of the two poems are completely different, despite the fact that they are both about love. This follows on from the previous point: each speaker has a completely different attitude towards her beloved. Medusa wants to possess and control her beloved, and this has caused her to become a "dragon," filled with rage. The speaker in "Warming Her Pearls," however, enjoys the idea of being in gentle bondage to her mistress, and her attitude towards the mistress is one of quiet yearning: she "burn[s]" for her mistress and yet knows she will never "speak" of her love. Compare this to Medusa, whose thoughts are now conveyed through the mouths of snakes which "hissed and spat" from her head.