Mrs Faust

Story:
Dr Faustus is a German legend. It's about a man that wants to gain as much knowledge as possible, that he is willing to sell his soul to the devil. He makes a deal with Mephistopheles to gain knowledge within 24 years, but once those years were up he was dragged down to Hell.

Structure:
There are fifteen stanzas, each one including nine lines with internal rhyme. This regular structure is typical of the character, Faustus, who was a compulsive list maker.

Closer Reading:
- The first stanza starts with "First things first".  This creates a conversational tone, as if Mrs Faust is speaking directly to the reader. She says "I married Faust." in a very direct manner despite, throughout the poem, she becomes a very indecisive woman. This creates character development, and shows how Faust's actions are affecting his wife.
- "BA. MA. Ph.D. No kids." Both man and wife value education and knowledge above all else, shown by the fact they have no kids.
- "Two towelled bathrobes. Hers. His." - this shows that they were well matched, like matching bathrobes, but still separated. This separation will grow more and more obvious as the poem progresses.
- We worked. We saved. We moved again." - using the inclusive pronoun "we" to show togetherness.
- "The latest toys - computers, mobile phones." - The couple have a lot of money to spend so can afford a luxurious lifestyle. Material possessions are important to both people at this point.
- "I was a bad." - Another example of how well matched they are because of their similarity.
- "I grew to love the lifestyle,/not the life./ He grew to love the kudos,/ not the wife." - Kudos means praise or achievement. Faust became obsessed with knowing as much as possible, where as Mrs Faust thrives in the expensive lifestyle.
- "I felt, not jealousy, but chronic irritation." - Mrs Faust becomes less and less interested in what her husband does. They are becoming separated in their ideals and what they care about.
- "I went to yoga, t'ai chi,/ Feng Shui, therapy, colonic irrigation." - Mrs Faust is searching for knowledge in obscure places compared to her husband. She finds pleasure in practicing spiritual beliefs over anything else.
- Stanza five starts with the short sentence "He wanted more." Mr Faust is unhappy with how much he knows and will do anything to know more. In this stanza, Mrs Faust knew he was "upstairs in the study" but was unaware of what he was doing. "I smelled cigar smoke, hellish" Mr Faust is now meeting with the devil, making the deal for his soul.
- "Next thing, the world" - Faust began to conquer the world. "First, politics -/ Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG". As time progresses, Faust becomes more and more powerful.  "Vice-chairman. Chairman. Owner. Lord." Mrs Faust can only sit and watch his progression.
- "Enough? Encore?" Faust is an unstoppable force that knew no limits. He was "Cardinal, Pope/ knew more than God" - he was powerful and all knowing, like God.
- There is always the idea throughout the poem that Faust is unsatisfied with his lot. He wants more knowledge, yes, but also a new partner. In stanza eight Mrs Faust talks about how he "surfed the Internet/ for like-minded Bo-Peep." The reference to the internet puts the poem in a modern context.
- "As for me,/ I went on my own sweet way," - Faust and his wife are fully separated. Mrs Fausty continues to find spiritual enlightenment. "had a face lift,/ had my breasts enlargened, my buttocks tightened"- Mrs Faust is using Faust's money to try and improve herself, both physcially and mentally.
- "Went to China, Thailand Africa,/ returned, enlightened." - Highlighting that Mrs Faust is looking for spiritual guidance, but also that she is burning through a lot of places and ideas quickly. She is trying to better herself, but in the process, not taking anything in.
- "Turned 40, celibate" Mrs Faust has a dwindling sex life - she no longer needs to depend on men. Her appearance is important to her, much like age in Medusa.
- "Went blonde, redhead, brunette" - all superficial "improvements". She can't settle and is restless.
-  "Went on the run, alone;/went home." - She can't be happy.
- "Things is-/ I made a pact/ with Mephistopheles,/ the Devil's boy." - written in italics because it is Faust that is speaking. When Mrs Faust returned home from her adventures, Mr Faust explained to her about his deal.
 - "He's on his way/ to take away/ what's owed,/ reap what I sowed." - The Devil is returning for Mr Faust's soul. He wishes to claim back on his deal. The way the sentence is split between several lines adds speed, as if Mr Faust was dying to spit out what he wanted to say, before his time was up.
 - "gagging for it, / going got it,/ rolling in it,/ I've sold my soul." - the repetition of the structure of this sentence shows madness in Mr Faust. "I've sold my soul." is direct and impactual.
 - "I heard,/ a seperent's hiss/ tasted evil, knew its smell," - serpent's hiss could be a reference to the form the devil takes in Eden, the paradise. Mrs Faust thought she was living in a paradise when she and her husband were first married.
- "terracotta Tuscan tiles" - alliteration
- "and dragged him, oddly smirking, there and then/ straight down to Hell." - Mrs Faust is suspicious of her husband's reaction. "Straight down to Hell." is on a seperate line as if it's also being dragged down.
- "Oh well." Mrs Faust feels no loss. "Faust's will,/ left everything - ..............to me." Mrs Faust benefits more to his absence than she did when he was around. She lists all the possessions that will now be her's, still caught up in a superficial and materialistic world. She couldn't care that her husband's in Hell; "C'est la vie."
- "When I got ill,/ it hurt like hell." - an idiom but also humourous because of it's reference to Hell; she'd know what that felt like.
- "I bought a kidney/ with my credit card, then I got well." - Expense is not an obstacle for her.
- "I keep Faust's secret still - / the clever, cunning, callous bastard/ didn't have a soul to sell." The use of tripling and alliteration show her opinion of her husband and how it is constant and will never change. The fact that he didn't have a soul to sell suggests that Mr Faust cheated the devil, and he won. The man comes out on top.

Themes:
Carol Ann Duffy, with Mrs Faust, is presenting a self-centred woman that relies on her husband. She is similar to Mrs Sisyphus in this respect. Mrs Faust is materialistic and loves things more than her husband. Duffy is showing a semi-independant woman, but also a critical opinion that the modern woman must rely on her husband.She is also hinting that a wife is like a possession to a man, just another thing to say they have, even if they don't show any affection toward her.