The Artist and her Work in Carol Ann Duffy’s Poetry

Abstract

Abstract The author analyses Carol Ann Duffy’s dramatic monologues and revisionist myths in Standing Female Nude and The World’s Wife that centre on speakers who are either fashioned into objects of art or that become artists themselves. In the process, the author demonstrates that Duffy deconstructs the practice of objectification and undermines humanist philosophy. At the same time, Duffy appears to reconcile the postmodern dispersal of the subject with a sense of creative agency and autonomy, unmaking archetypes while weaving together an inclusive plurality of voices engaged in both social critique and creative praxis.