Mrs. Faust
By Carol Ann Duffy
Presentation by Sebastian Campos
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJuS92kG6vg
Frank Abagnale
• According to a German legend, Faust was a
scientist and magician who sells his soul to
the devil for power and knowledge.
• There is no correct or original legend.
• There was a person named Johann Georg
Faust (1400’s – 1500’s), born in Germany.
• The first time Faust appeared in print was in
1587, in a chapbook.
• The world-wide known play is The Tragical History of Dr.
Faustus, written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Original Faust
Poem
First things first I married Faust.
We met as students,
shacked up, split up,
made up, hitched up,
got a mortgage on a house,
flourished academically,
BA. MA. Ph.D. No kids.
Two toweled bathrobes. Hers. His.
We worked. We saved.
We moved again.
Fast cars. A boat with sails.
A second home in Wales.
The latest toys – computers,
mobile phones. Prospered.
Moved again. Faust’s face
was clever, greedy, slightly mad.
I was as bad.
I grew to love lifestyle,
not the life.
He grew to love the kudos,
not the wife.
He went to whores.
I felt, not jealousy,
but the chronic irritation.
I went to yoga, t’ai chi,
Feng Shui, therapy, colonic irrigation.
And Faust would boast
at dinner parties
of the cost
of doing deals out East.
Then take his lust
to Soho in cab,
to say the least,
to lay the ghost,
get lost, meet panthers, feast.
Legend:
Allusion
Repetition
Slant Rhyme
Rhyme
Alliteration
Enumeration
Hyperbole
Irony
Imagery
Enjambment
He wanted more.
I came home late one winter’s evening,
hadn’t eaten.
Faust was upstairs in his study,
in a meeting.
I smelled cigar smoke,
hellish, oddly sexy, not allowed.
I heard Faust and the other
laugh aloud.
Then backed a hunch invested in smart bombs,
in harms,
Faust dealt in arms.
Faust got in deep, got out.
Bought farms,
cloned sheep.
Faust surfed the internet
for like-minded Bo Peep.
Next thing, the world,
as Faust said,
spread its legs.
First politics Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG.
Than banks offshore, abroad and business Vice-chairman. Chairman. Owner. Lord.
As for me,
I went my own sweet way,
saw Rome in a day,
spun gold from hay,
had a facelift,
had my breasts enlarged,
my buttocks tightened;
went to China, Thailand, Africa,
returned enlightened.
Enough? Encore!
Faust was Cardinal, Pope,
knew more than God;
flew faster than the speed of sound
around the globe,
lunched;
walked on the moon,
golfed, holed in one;
lit a fat Havana on the Sun.
Turned 40, celibate,
teetotal, vegan,
Buddhist, 41.
Went blonde,
redhead, brunette,
went native, ape,
berserk, bananas;
went on the run, alone;
went home.
Faust was in. A word, he said,
I spent the night being pleasured
by a virtual Helen of Troy.
Faced that launched a thousand ships.
I kissed its lips.
Thing is I’ve made a pact
with Mephistopeheles,
the Devil’s boy.
He’s on his way
to take away
what’s owed,
reap what I sowed.
For all these years of
gagging for it,
going for it,
rolling in it,
I’ve sold my soul.
At this, I heard
a serpent’s hiss
tasted evil, knew its smell,
as scaly devil’s hands
poked up
right through the terracotta Tuscan tiles
at Faust’s bare feet
and dragged him, oddly smirking, there and then
straight down to Hell.
Oh, well.
Faust’s will
left everythingthe yacht,
the several houses,
the Lear jet, the helipad,
the loot, et cet, et cet,
the lot to me.
C’est la vie.
When I got ill
it hurt like hell.
I bought a kidney
with my credit card,
then I got well.
I keep Faust’s secret still the clever, cunning, callous bastard
didn’t have a soul to sell.
• Informal:
• “Oh, well” (Line 118)/ “C’est la vie” (Line 127)
• Many pronouns: “We worked. We saved./ We moved
again.” (Lines 10-11)
• Sarcastic and ironic tone:
• “The next thing, the world,/as Faust said,/spread its legs.”
(Lines 46 – 48)
Diction and Tone
•
•
•
•
•
•
First person – Mrs. Faust is the speaker.
No apparent audience.
Tells the story about a couple that came from wealth.
Get married, but never have kids.
Wealth grows and grows.
Ends up just like the play or the legend: Faust is sent to
hell.
• Mrs. Faust seems to have gained the most.
Literal Meaning
• The lifestyle of Mr. and Mrs. Faust represent materialism.
• They spend their money on frivolous items.
• The only things that the pair care about is money and what
it can buy, including power and women.
•
•
•
•
Vain about their social outlook.
Think that they can evade death.
Greed.
A bit critical of women in particular.
Figurative Meanings
• 15 stanzas, each with 9 lines.
• There are 3-12 syllables in each line
• Fast moving poem
• Free verse, no rhyme scheme.
• Rhyme is used though
• End rhymes: “A boat with sails.(Line 12)/A second home in
Wales. (Line 13)”
• “But the chronic irritation. (Line 25)/ Feng Shui, therapy,
colonic irrigation. (Line 27)
Form
• Slant rhymes: “I married Faust” (Line 2)/ “Got a
mortgage on a house.” (Line 6)
• Enjambment: “Moved again. Faust’s face/ was clever,
greedy, slightly mad.” (Lines 16-17)
• Reflects her own life.
• Repetition: “shacked up, split up,/ made up, hitched up.”
(Lines 4-5), and “We worked. We saved./We moved
again.” (Lines 10-11)
• Not usual: many periods, semi-colons, dashes, etc.
Form cont.
• Allusion to Faust.
• “flourished academically,/BA. MA, Ph. D” (Lines 7-8)
• “and dragged him oddly smirking,/ there and then/straight
down to Hell.” (Lines 116-118)
• Allusion to things with power or greatness:
• “invested in smart bombs,/in harms,” (Lines 65-66)
• “And Faust would boast (Line 28)/ of doing deals out East.”
(Line 31)
• “Faust was upstairs in his study,/in a meeting./I smelled
cigar smoke,/hellish, oddly sexy, not allowed” (Line 40 –
43)
• “I spent a night being pleasured/by a virtual Helen of Troy.”
(Line 93 – 94)
Allusion
• Lists material possessions:
• “Fast cars. A boat with sails./ A second
home in Wales.” (Line 12 – 13)
• “the yacht,/the several houses,/the Lear
jet, the helipad,/ the loot, et cet, et cet,”
(Line 121 – 124)
• Lists positions of power
• “First politics-/Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG./ Then banks
– offshore, abroad – and business -/Vice-chairman.
Chairman. Owner. Lord.” (Lines 49 – 53)
Listing
• Aspects of the characters are revealed through vast
exaggerations:
• “Saw Rome in a day,/ spun gold from hay,” (Lines 75
– 76)
• “Faust was Cardinal, Pope,/knew more than God;/flew
faster than the speed of sound/around the
globe,/lunched;/walked on the moon,/golfed, holed in
one; lit a fat Havana on the Sun.” (Lines 56 – 63)
Hyperbole
• Are the actions of either Faust justifiable? If
so, or not, then why?
• How are Nurse Ratched from One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s nest and Mrs. Faust
similar and different?
Discussion Questions