Anon

• explores the erasure of women's voices and contributions throughout history, themes of anonymity, gender inequality and loneliness of being unseen or unheard.
• Similarities to TCP:

  • Both Celie and woman referenced in the poem grow up from 'girl' to 'woman' in the same society
  • women forgotten for who they were and shadowed by men e.g. Celie's mother
  • All women besides Shug centre around looking after children
  • 'get off it's chest' link to Celie's built up anger and outburst
• Differences to TCP:

  • Sofia and Shug have an identity unlike this girl whether rebelling/ conforming
  • Nettie continues education and is not originally married, she doesn't put her skull on the shelf
  • poem is the loss of female identity whilst TCP develops identity for women.
• 'If she were here she'd forget who she was'

  diminished legacy as she's been forgotten by everyone including herself. 'If' creates doubtful tone suggesting she is dead. Refferred to only as 'she' so we never get a name, suggests she isn't significant enough or its about multiple women's collective memory- shared experience. women's individuality subsumed by roles society expects.
• 'maybe a nurse, a nanny, maybe a nun- Anon'

  only role for women revolves around children or reproduction due to lack of opportunity for anything else (contrasts Harpo and Shug). Alliterative 'n's' add humour creates the idea that it is not trivial, reinforcing the idea of limitation.
• 'A girl I met was willing to bet that she still lived on- anon- but had packed it all in, the best verb, the right noun, for a life in the sun.'

  The woman the poet meets represents all women, this persona convinced herself she was fulfilled despite abandoning her ambition. 'life in the sun' is a metaphor for the least stressful solution. choice between motherhood and career- narrator believes career is the only fulfilling option. 'the best verb, the right noun' metaphor for the alternative choice, career and development of her skills that she chose to 'pack in'
• 'A woman I knew kept her skull on a shelf in a room'

  metaphor of a skull could represent her talent that she was allowed to die as well as the talent of the dead women of previous generations and the fact that they were not looked at for their intellect. Gothic image suggests the underlying meaning of the poem is serious- wasting one's gift is a tragedy. could be intertextual reference to Hamlet (mortality). 'on a shelf' shows she's been silenced
• 'and swore that one day as she worked at her desk it cleared its throat as though it had something to get off its chest.'

  'cleared its throat' is a metaphor for reclaiming lost identity of former women's narratives. 'get off its chest' is a call to action realising how unfair society is to women. 'swore' shows the frustration of women who are silenced and the promise of truth. rhyming 'desk' and 'chest' give the stanza unity and emphasis.
• 'But I know best-'

  volta- reclaimed voice. poet asserts her own insight into the place of women. recognises what may prefer to ignore or not to acknowledge. Duffy's way of paying tribute to those who subjugated their own ambitions to society's demand.
• 'how she passed on her pen like a baton down through the years, with a hey nonny hey nonny hey nonny no- anon'

  'pen' and 'baton' phallocentric images- women still have to craft their identity in a male sphere. The essence of the poem is that fact that generation after generation of women have been subjugated or discouraged from developing talent. 'hey nonny' could suggest it is a foolish thing to ignore women's talents. last 'anon' closes the circle and the loss of identity remains as problematic as ever.