Mrs.

Midas Nathan Richardson

In the poem Mrs. Midas by Carol Ann Duffy, the allusion to King Midas, a character in Greek mythology who wishes for the power to turn anything he touches to gold, in order to emphasize the changes as Mr. Midass greed grows. Like King Midas, the beginning of the golden touch seems like a valuable quality. As soon as Mr. Midas enters the house, the narrator says, The doorknobs gleamed (Carol Ann Duffy 13). This choice of words carries along with it a favorable connotation. This gives a much more appreciative view on the golden touch. The narrator compares the gift to the Field of the Cloth of God and Miss Macready (Carol Ann Duffy 15). Miss Macready refers to a character in a 1960s spy drama, Sharon Macready, and her head of golden hair. This allusion also creates a sound and welcoming image. The narrator later begins to gain awareness of the drastic changes, much like the changes of King Midas, which this newfound wealth has on her husband. The narrator sees that, to a certain degree, her husbands wealth is worthless: Do you know about gold? It feeds no one (Carol Ann Duffy 32-33). She explains that the abundance of gold is no longer lucrative, at least to her. She is no longer impressed with her husbands wealth. Mrs. Midas also uses a metaphor to accuse her husband of turning their spare room to the tomb of Tutankhamun (Carol Ann Duffy 39). The tomb of Tutankhamun is very decorated with precious materials, mainly gold. Like King Midas, Mr. Midas decides to use his recently granted wish to benefit himself. Mr. Midass greed is expanding and Mrs. Midas is taking note. Her husbands greed eventually becomes overwhelming and causes Mrs. Midas to fill with outrage. So he had to move out she says (Carol Ann Duffy 49). She is forcing Mr. Midas

to leave the house due to his staggering selfishness. She sees that her husband is ignoring her due to his own avidity. She later finds him and describes him as thin and delirious (Carol Ann Duffy 58-59). The greed of her husband has made him lonely, unwillingly independent, and mentally unstable. His greed has gone so far as to make him negligible. Mrs. Midas works with an allusion to King Midas in order to warn about the power of wealth. It should always be approached in a circumspect manner or it could become an exceeding force of self-destruction.