The Devil’s Wife: Starter

• Do you have any prior knowledge of the

Moors Murders?

• Read through the sheet and watch the clip

• Then answer the questions about your

expectations of the poem
 The Devil’s Wife
• In groups (of 4) you will analyse one verse of the
poem, focusing on the following features:
– Language and style
– Presentation of Myra Hindley
– Effect on the reader

• You only have 10 minutes

• You will then present your ideas to the class
 The Devil’s Wife
• Write an analysis of the presentation of Myra
Hindley in the poem
 Model Answer
Carol Ann Duffy has portrayed Hindley as a woman who has
spent a lot of time in denial about her actions. Referring to
the first child they murdered as a “doll” suggests that Hindley
felt detached from the murders and that she did not see their
victim as a human child, but rather as an inanimate object.
Furthermore, Duffy writes that “he made me bury a doll”,
suggesting that Brady was to blame for Hindley’s involvement.
This shocks the audience who wonder how a woman could
take the life of a child. Duffy is therefore emphasising the
ways in which Hindley was dehumanised by the media and the
public who could not comprehend a woman, who should be
naturally maternal, committing such terrible crimes.
 Peer Assesment
• Swap work with the person next to you and
read through their work so far

• Note down one strength

• Then give them a target to improve their work

 Homework
• Use your target to improve your analysis of
Myra Hindley’s character (at least 1 side)

• Ensure you are confident in your understanding

of the stories behind Little Red Cap, Anne
Hathaway, Mrs Icarus and Mrs Darwin
 ‘isms’ – What are they?
A word to describe a particular view point or
outlook on life.
»Marxism
»Modernism
»Post-modernism
»Post-colonialism
»Feminism
 Marxism
• Founder: Karl Marx 
• Marxists believe in 2 main social classes: the
proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie
(owners).
•  The bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat.
•  Believed that everyone should be equal.
• "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” Animal Farm by
George Orwell
 Modernism

• Art (writing, painting, music etc) movement

from about 1900 to 1940
• Industrial age brought many changes
• World wars had affected peoples outlook on
life – less optimistic.
• Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia
Woolf, and James Joyce.
 Post-modernism
• We are in the post-modern era and it was a
reaction to the modernist and feminist and all
other eras that have come before. Confused?
• What sets Postmodernism apart from its
predecessor is the mixing, the disintegration,
and the instability of identities.
 Post-colonialism (race)
• This theory looks at literature retrospectively
and sees how minorities and in particular the
black community has been treated in the past.
• It explores the concept that white is not the
superior race and how ‘others’ were
presented in art.
 Feminism
• Feminism is the ‘belief in the social, political, and
economic equality of the sexes”
• Society is dominated by patriarchy. Men control
the way that society works and oppression is
endemic so women are not represented in power,
dominated in the workforce and treated as slave
labour.
•  1st Wave Feminism – 1800s –fight for the vote
• 2nd Wave Feminism – 1970s – glass ceiling, sex
and equality, sisterhood...
 Duffy and
Feminism
This one

NOT this
one
http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseas
on/poets/carol_ann_duffy.shtml
What insight do we get into Duffy’s reasons for
writing?

What does she say about being a feminist

writer?
• http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-
entertainment/books/features/carol-ann-
duffy-streetwise-heroines-at-home-
743481.html

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/1999/sep/
25/costabookaward.features