STANDING FEMALE NUDECAROL ANN DUFFY, 1985

“LARGE NUDE” – Georges Braque

Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXm2wEzyww

STANDING FEMALE NUDE

Six hours like this for a few francs.Belly nipple arse in the window light,he drains the color from me. Further to the right,Madame. And do try to be still.I shall be represented analytically and hungin great museums. The bourgeoisie will cooat such an image of a river-whore. They call it Art.

Maybe. He is concerned with volume, space.I with the next meal. You're getting thin,Madame, this is not good. My breasts hangslightly low, the studio is cold. In the tea-leavesI can see the Queen of England gazingon my shape. Magnificent, she murmurs,moving on. It makes me laugh. His name

is Georges. They tell me he's a genius.There are times he does not concentrateand stiffens for my warmth.He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brushrepeatedly into the paint. Little man,you've not the money for the arts I sell.Both poor, we make our living how we can.I ask him Why do you do this? BecauseI have to. There's no choice. Don't talk.My smile confuses him. These artiststake themselves too seriously. At night I fill myselfwith wine and dance around the bars. When it's finishedhe shows me proudly, lights a cigarette. I sayTwelve francs and get my shawl. It does not look like me.

MARKUP Six hours like this for a few francs.[Belly nipple arse in the window light],he drains the color from me. Further to the right,Madame. And do try to be still.I shall be represented analytically and hungin great museums. The bourgeoisie will cooat such [an image of a river-whore. They call it Art].

Maybe. [He is concerned with volume, space.]I with the next meal. You're getting thin,Madame, this is not good. [My breasts hangslightly low, the studio is cold]. In the tea-leavesI can see the Queen of England gazingon my shape. Magnificent, she murmurs,moving on. It makes me laugh. His name

Marking Keyimageryalliterationconsonance dictionenjambmentallusionmetonymyverbal ironymiscellaneoushyperboleasyndetonJuxtaposition

is Georges. They tell me he's a genius.There are times he does not concentrateand stiffens for my warmth.He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brushrepeatedly into the paint. Little man,you've not the money for the arts I sell.Both poor, we make our living how we can.I ask him Why do you do this? BecauseI have to. There's no choice. Don't talk.My smile confuses him. These artiststake themselves too seriously. At night I fill myselfwith wine and dance around the bars. When it's finishedhe shows me proudly, lights a cigarette. I sayTwelve francs and get my shawl. It does not look like me.

Marking Keyimageryalliterationconsonance dictionenjambmentallusionmetonymyverbal ironymiscellaneoushyperboleasyndetonJuxtaposition

FORM

• Three stanzas• 28 lines • Free verse• Two en rhymes• Two with seven unrhymed lines • One with fourteen unrhymed lines• Regular enjambment

LITERAL MEANING• What’s happening?

• A woman (prostitute) is being painted naked in a cold studio• Two poor people that need to make a living

• Speaker?/Poetic voice?• The prostitute

• Whom is she speaking?• No one, narration, herself to herself

• Speaker’s attitude?• Discomfort with the situation, doing it for the money,

feels as if she were selling her body for sexual purposes• What does it allude too?

• George Braque

FIGURATIVE MEANING• She is selling her body to art, which she sees equal

to selling herself for sex• The act of being painted is portrayed as a sexual act• In society he is of a higher class than she, but

through her eyes it is vice versa (feminist commentary)• She is a starving prostitute and he is a genius of an artist,

he however cannot afford to spend the night with her even though he can afford her as a model and spend time with the rich in museums

• The prostitute knows that she will be observed in museums; however, in the last line, the painting ironically does not look like her- it is not her because of the cubism style- she is distorted, he did not capture her essence

DICTION

• “he drains the color from me.” • “The bourgeoisie will coo/at such an image of a river-whore. They call

it Art.”• “He is concerned with volume, space./I with the next meal.”• “he does not concentrate/and stiffens for my warmth.”• “He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brush/repeatedly into the

paint.”• “Little man,/you've not the money for the arts I sell.”• “Both poor” • “When it's finished/he shows me proudly. . . It does not look like me.”

ENJAMBMENT • “I shall be represented analytically and hung/in great museums.”• “The bourgeoisie will coo/at such an image of a river-whore.”• "My breasts hang/slightly low, the studio is cold.”• “In the tea-leaves/I can see the Queen of England gazing/on my

shape.”• “His name/is Georges.”• “There are times he does not concentrate/and stiffens for my warmth.”• “He possesses me on canvas as he dips the brush/repeatedly into the

paint.”• “I ask him Why do you do this? Because/I have to.”• “These artists/take themselves too seriously.” • “At night I fill myself/with wine and dance around the bars.”• “When it's finished/he shows me proudly, lights a cigarette.”• “I say/Twelve francs and get my shawl.”

IRONY

• “I shall be represented analytically and hung/in great museums. The bourgeoisie will coo/at such an image of a river-whore. They call it Art”

• “He is concerned with volume, space.”• “Magnificent, she murmurs,/moving on. It makes me laugh.” • “His name/is Georges. They tell me he's a genius.”• Little man,/you've not the money for the arts I sell.”• “My smile confuses him.” • “It does not look like me.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What do you think about the feminist comment in the poem and how does it reflect on the 1980’s (when the poem was written)?• How does this poem relate to One Flew Over

the Cuckoo’s Nest?

VS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY• www.dictionary.reference.com • http://records.ancestry.com/George_Brach_records.ashx?pid=27657861 • http://www.helium.com/items/2304682-poetry-analysis-standing-female-nude-by-carol-ann-duffy • www.a/ecak12.com/document/d/1Rv9-y34PhKcM41NSqeY42wXViTPflNpn014s8WbGNDE/edit • http://

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Georges_Braque.jpg/220px-Georges_Braque.jpg • http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/braque/lg_nude.jpg• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXm2wEzyww• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm• http://www.memyart.com/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=../

uploads/790_original.jpg&w=660&q=100&aoe=1?74561896• http://ioananegulescupenguinawards.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cuckoo-nest.jpg • http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01879/CarolAnnDuffy_jpg-_1879313c.jpg • http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_49.70.34.jpg

• Choose two poems which approach a similar theme in different ways.• Explain the nature of these different

approaches and discuss which approach leads, in your opinion, to the more pleasing poem.