Analyzation
In the poem Salome by Carol Ann Duffy, she adopts the character of a young sloven girl. At the first stanza of the poem, the narrator tells us that ‘I’d done it before, probably do it again’, which then describes her being in bed with a good looking man with dark hair. The way this girl presented her thoughts in her head, gives the readers the interpretations that this is just something ordinary to her, as she isn’t clear of who she is in bed with, representing a typical teenage slut. Then the narrator (Salome) describes the man’s beard has a light shade of red and than the lines around his eyes are caused by either pain or laughter, and his mouth is crimson. This lets the reader visualize a bloody imagery, a red image that is filled with lust, love, sex and passion. Then, quickly, Salome ends the first stanza with a direct opposite line, describing the man’s lips as colder than pewter, this creates a contrast between the hot fire imagery from previous sentences with now, a cold and blue imagery. The image that cold and blue may also represent the essence of death.
The reference of the name Salome is actually related to the Bible, where she danced for King Herod in return for anything she wanted. Which she then asked for the head of John the Baptist, a fool that describe the king’s marriage with Herodias was awful, and which she received served to her on a dish. This allusion then is applied to the first sentences of the second stanza, the names Simon, Andrew and John are mentioned, which they are all Jesus’s disciples, making a bible reference. The stanza continues as Salome gives the audience the impression that she is from a rich family, actions such as wanting tea with dry toast and ringing for a maid shows that she is indeed high class. She then describes her disapproval to the conversation between her and her maid, saying it as regional patter.
Stanza ends with Salome saying that she is wrecked from the hangover from last night. This truly symbolizes the image of a spoiled and wreck less girl that evokes a negative reaction from the audience.
The third stanza shows a contrasting Salome, as she vowed to clean up her act. She is determined to cut all the alcohol, cigarettes and sex, 3 of the 7 deadly sins from her life. The sentence “Never again!” acts as an exclamation to her determined self, as she now have set a clear goal. The stanza ends with Salome describing the man has came to her bed like “a lamb to the slaughter”, a reference to the short story by Roald Dahl in 1953, foreshadowing to the readers the man is indeed killed. There is now a connection between the two references, as Salome had John The Baptist killed and now it foreshadows a dead man in her bed. Also, as explained above, lust, love, sex, bloody and passion imagery is showcased in the poem through the use of language, combined with her informal language, it gives the audience almost a playful feeling to the bloody and mixed theme of the poem. Rhythm can seen used in different parts of the poem, words such as matter, flatter, batter, clatter, latter and platter, adds to the fast paced theme of the poem.
The final stanza starts with Salome looking at her own reflection in the mirror, and seeing her eyes glitter. This possibly means the glitter are actually tears. The use of the word glitter instead of tears, a noun instead of using a verb, is very clever. As the narrator did not use any negative language such as death, kill, cry, instead she replaces them with references to stories, colorful imageries and glitters. These all give the audience a wild imagination, for example the word glitter, it usually sparkles the audience’s mind of something pretty and glamourous, but in this case, it is smartly used to suppress any negative emotion from the readers. In the last 3 lines, Salome states the she flung back the red sheets, and there it was, his head on a platter. It is clear now, the red sheets are the dead man’s blood and his head on a platter is again referencing to the bible. A fitting ending that connects the entire poem together.
In the poem Salome by Carol Ann Duffy, she adopts the character of a young sloven girl. At the first stanza of the poem, the narrator tells us that ‘I’d done it before, probably do it again’, which then describes her being in bed with a good looking man with dark hair. The way this girl presented her thoughts in her head, gives the readers the interpretations that this is just something ordinary to her, as she isn’t clear of who she is in bed with, representing a typical teenage slut. Then the narrator (Salome) describes the man’s beard has a light shade of red and than the lines around his eyes are caused by either pain or laughter, and his mouth is crimson. This lets the reader visualize a bloody imagery, a red image that is filled with lust, love, sex and passion. Then, quickly, Salome ends the first stanza with a direct opposite line, describing the man’s lips as colder than pewter, this creates a contrast between the hot fire imagery from previous sentences with now, a cold and blue imagery. The image that cold and blue may also represent the essence of death.
The reference of the name Salome is actually related to the Bible, where she danced for King Herod in return for anything she wanted. Which she then asked for the head of John the Baptist, a fool that describe the king’s marriage with Herodias was awful, and which she received served to her on a dish. This allusion then is applied to the first sentences of the second stanza, the names Simon, Andrew and John are mentioned, which they are all Jesus’s disciples, making a bible reference. The stanza continues as Salome gives the audience the impression that she is from a rich family, actions such as wanting tea with dry toast and ringing for a maid shows that she is indeed high class. She then describes her disapproval to the conversation between her and her maid, saying it as regional patter.
Stanza ends with Salome saying that she is wrecked from the hangover from last night. This truly symbolizes the image of a spoiled and wreck less girl that evokes a negative reaction from the audience.
The third stanza shows a contrasting Salome, as she vowed to clean up her act. She is determined to cut all the alcohol, cigarettes and sex, 3 of the 7 deadly sins from her life. The sentence “Never again!” acts as an exclamation to her determined self, as she now have set a clear goal. The stanza ends with Salome describing the man has came to her bed like “a lamb to the slaughter”, a reference to the short story by Roald Dahl in 1953, foreshadowing to the readers the man is indeed killed. There is now a connection between the two references, as Salome had John The Baptist killed and now it foreshadows a dead man in her bed. Also, as explained above, lust, love, sex, bloody and passion imagery is showcased in the poem through the use of language, combined with her informal language, it gives the audience almost a playful feeling to the bloody and mixed theme of the poem. Rhythm can seen used in different parts of the poem, words such as matter, flatter, batter, clatter, latter and platter, adds to the fast paced theme of the poem.
The final stanza starts with Salome looking at her own reflection in the mirror, and seeing her eyes glitter. This possibly means the glitter are actually tears. The use of the word glitter instead of tears, a noun instead of using a verb, is very clever. As the narrator did not use any negative language such as death, kill, cry, instead she replaces them with references to stories, colorful imageries and glitters. These all give the audience a wild imagination, for example the word glitter, it usually sparkles the audience’s mind of something pretty and glamourous, but in this case, it is smartly used to suppress any negative emotion from the readers. In the last 3 lines, Salome states the she flung back the red sheets, and there it was, his head on a platter. It is clear now, the red sheets are the dead man’s blood and his head on a platter is again referencing to the bible. A fitting ending that connects the entire poem together.