LL IO

Trisha Bhatnagar
MEDUSA

Carol Anne Duffey

POLITICAL
CARTOON

Lisa Donnelly
Global Issue : Violence
◦ Today for my individual oral I will be discussing the portrayal of violence and majorly it’s impact on women
from centuries ago prevailing to today’s modern society in the works of Medusa a poem written by Carol
Anne Duffy and a political cartoon by Lisa Donnelly
◦ What I found in both works is that both authors intend to criticise how in the society true equality and perhaps
a safer world for women is a dream and how even at present what brings most women together is how they
feel because of the oppression and how it has a major impact on them as a person, how it leaves them broken.
◦ Carol Anne Duffy’s poem is based on Greek mythology it focuses on dark and tangled themes of love much
like her recent collection of poems. This poem has to do with the myth of Medusa, a very attractive mortal
that was admired for her beauty and her lovely locks that was assaulted by Poseidon, her supposed lover, the
god of the sea.
◦ Lisa Donnelly’s political cartoon brings out the idea that women of different cultures, shapes and sizes even
women of different eras are brought together because of the sad reality of the world that women face extremes
of injustice just like Medusa did.
◦ Carol Anne Duffy’s poems main theme is betrayal and pain that Medusa felt because Poseidon her lover, assaulted her.
The poem also revolves around regret and remorse because Athena punishes Medusa for the wrongdoings of Poseidon.
Very much highlighting the practice of victim blaming in modern society.
◦ In the first stanza “A suspicion a doubt a jealousy” the poet uses the rule of 3 to emphasise her emotions the emotions
one feels when betrayed by a partner (go on about how assault leaves one feeling stranded lonely and betrayed when the
culprit is someone we know personally like a partner or a family member). “As though my thoughts hissed and spat on
my scalp” onamatopia is used the repititive s sound sounds like the snakes from the myth referring to the undeserving
punishment she received from a woman herself and the resentment she felt due to it.(victim blaming; how people are
so quick to point fingers at women for the oppression they go through)
◦ In the second stanza “my brides breathe soured, stank” highlights her low self esteem her breathe could also refer to her
words that are becoming more and more bitter the alliteration of the b sound creates a harsh abrupt tone (signifying how
trauma can affect one to the extent that they see themselves changing; talk about PTSD) “there are bullet tears in my
eyes” an oxymoron has been used bullet connotes danger and death however the word tears leave the reader feeling
sympathy for the speaker( how women are also affected when they see other women facing oppression; how all of them
relate to it to certain extent)
◦ In stanzas 4 and 5, alll the active verbs like buzzing, singing, signify the life in the animals before the
speaker looks at them which are juxtaposed with adjectives that connote death and lack of life like dull
grey pebble, handful of dusty gravel, house brick shattered bowl of milk and a Boulder rolled in a heap
of shit. (symbolises how PTSD after assault can make u feel so lifeless that it triggers suicidal thoughts)
◦ In stanza 7, “your girls, your girls” the repetition suggests that Poseidon had been unfaithful with a
number of women next lines say “wasn’t I beautiful? Wasn’t I young?” The rhetorical questions signify
the weakness and how belittled she felt to the extent that she blamed herself she believed she was left
because of a lacking in herself (signifying how PTSD can also have us have a negative image of
ourselves)
◦ In the political cartoon by Lisa Donnelly, we can see images of women of different shapes, sizes, ethnicity, color
below which we see what these women have to say in the text boxes.
◦ The images of the women clearly display how diverse we are but as we go below we see a rhetorical question
asked, “but what do we have in common?” Highlighting the fact that what we all have in common are not things
we’re normally perceived as sweet, soft, love clothes, know how to cook, chatty, thoughtful and nurturing the
things we have in common are the feelings we’ve felt each time we’ve faced oppression. How oppression has
an impact huge enough to bring us together.
◦ Let’s talk about the highlighted words in the cartoon as we can see from the very beginning of the cartoon we
see women and diverse in pink color and bold signifies all the women of different shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicity
living around the world shown in different boxes or images. Below which we see the words breasts, vaginas,
nurturing, soft, sweet highlighted these are the assumed answer to the question what do we have in common
signifies how society has made a box or a limitation of adjectives women can be described with implying that
that’s the only way women should be. Breasts and vaginas also being a part of the assumed answer signifies
how quick all of us are to objectify and women.
◦ Now we go further below to see the message boxes, message boxes are usually used to convey a text that
voices ones feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Here we can see the words asssaulted, harassed, raped,
belittled, dismissed and underpaid. All of the adjectives that have been used to describe how each woman
of different shape, size, color and ethnicity feels. These words also answer the question what do we all
have in common ? Nothing but the fact that we are all oppressed and have been living in a partriarcal
society since centuries and centuries. The oppression, the violence against women has such a huge
impact that that is what most women have in common.
◦ The body language of the women from the images drawn below is such that they don’t know what to do,
they’ve been left helpless and stranded. Some of them have their arms together, some of their have their
arms aside some have their hands on their back all of which show how oppression leaves them angered
betrayed, tired and helpless. And how at the end of the day the sad reality is that the impact of the
violence they face bridges them together as they stand together in a line.