10. Mrs Faust

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the tenth poem in the collection, ‘Mrs Faust', focusing in particular on: (i) the figure of Faust (or Doctor Faustus) in European literature – Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Goethe's Faust; (ii) the use of rhyme in the poem ("to Hell / Oh, well.", "to me. / C'est la vie."); (iii) the tone of cynicism in the poem; and (iv) the way in which the character of Faust is mapped onto the modern world ("Safe seat. MP. Right Hon. KG").

Course

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Carol Ann Duffy’s 1999 collection, 'The World's Wife'. After a brief introduction to the collection as a whole, the course continue with a read-through and analysis of each of the thirty poems in the collection, one by one.

Lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.