Beautiful

• Within Beautiful the poet uses allusion to present ideas about 4 prominent women through history (Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Princess Diana of Wales) never directly referencing them by name to symbolise how society stripped them of their identities due to harsh scrutiny
• The poet in beautiful alludes to Helen of Troy as according to Greek mythology she was "born from an egg" and launched "a thousand ships"
• Helen of Troy was first referenced to as the face that "launched a thousand ships" in Homer's Ilead in the 8th century BC
• Duffy uses asyndetic listing "a pearl, drop dead gorgeous, beautiful, a peach, a child of grace, a stunner" to emphasise how, when it comes to powerful women, their appearance is revered as opposed to their power and influence in society
• Duffy presents women in power as causing them to experience melancholy and loneliness as highlighted with Helen of Troy and the sibilance of "starlike sorrows"
• in Helen's section, Duffy uses cesura in the phrase "who looked there loved." to emphasise how adoring the people were of Helen of Troy
• Helen of Troy was a powerful woman of Greek myth being the daughter of Zeus and Leda
• In Greek myth, Paris was blamed for abducting Helen of Troy however she left of her own free will
• Although the media does not yet exist, Helen of troy is described with her "skin's celebrity" foreshadowing media scrutiny to come later for other women in the poem displaying the never ending cycle stoked by the patriarchy
• Duffy portrays Helen of Troy as using her femininity to control masculinity through imagery of men "heaving at an oar" with "her name tattooed upon the muscle of his arm"
• Duffy presents Helen of Troy's power being diminished by those around her through asyndetic listing of feminine cliches "the girl next door, a princess with a common touch, queen of his heart, pin-up, superstar"
• Caesura in "beauty is fame." creates a metrical pause which emphasises how with beauty so must come power which society does not allow women to have causing extreme scrutiny from the world around these women
• only by "dress(ing) as a boy" can Helen of Troy experience freedom showing how liberation is only afforded to men in society
• Helen of Troy yearns for freedom as her section begins with her being "born from an egg" similar to a bird and ends with her being symbolised as a "little bird inside a cage"
• Beautiful is a poem that looks into women from history who are often portrayed through the "Male Gaze" (Laura Mulvey 1975)
• As power for women comes from beauty, the fact that Cleopatra "Never aged" can be seen as symbolic for how her power never faded and neither did the scrutiny she faced from others
• It can be inferred that the second section of the poem is about Cleopatra due to allusions such as "She'd tumbled from a rug a Caesar's feet"
• Cleopatra is portrayed as the woman in the poem with the most power as she is described using active verbs such as "she rolled her carpet on the sand"
• Cleopatra is portrayed as highly intelligent as "she knew her man" this also displays her as having ownership over a male figure
• Cleopatra is portrayed as seductive with her "fragrant boudoir" and "suck(ing) lemons" and "lick(ing) salt"
• Cleopatra "slipp(ing) her gambling hand into his pouch" is an innuendo which displays her as using her sexual power against men
• Cleopatra's "soft beauty" is oxymoronic and displays how women can be beautiful and powerful at the same time
• Cleopatra is portrayed as taking part in traditionally masculine activities "match(ing) him glass for glass in drinking games" colloquially known as "ladette culture" (Carolynn Jackson 2006) showing that women are made to embrace the masculine to sustain their power in society
• Cleopatra was the last ruler of the ptolemaic Egypt
• Cleopatra undermines men's masculinity by dressing in "boys clothes" and making them "fuck her as a lad"
• Marilyn Monroe is presented as effortless with her "sleepy... gaze" and how "she breathed the script out"
• Marilyn Monroe is infantilised by her "little voice" making her youthful attitude contribute to her beauty and therefore her power
• Marilyn Monroe is portrayed as delicate like the symbol of "raindrops" she "licked" from her "fingers"
• Duffy alludes to Marilyn Monroe through her infamous rendition of "happy birthday mr president" she sang for John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday
• The "Athlete" who Marilyn Monroe "Married" was Joe DiMaggio
• The simple act of Marilyn Monroe doing her job is sexualised as she is "filmed" "harder, harder" creating a sexual image
• Marilyn is presented as a commoditity as symbolised by the asyndetic listing "her hair was platinum, her teeth were gems, her eyes were sapphires"
• Repetition of "she married him" in reference to different men (Joe Dimaggio and Arthur Miller) represents how beauty and power prevented Marilyn Monroe from being able to sustain a relationship
• The "poet" referenced in the poem is an allusion to Arthur Miller, one of Marilyn's husband
• Asyndetic Listing "coffee, pills, booze" presents Monroe's addiction
• The imagery of the "mike" Monroe used at her "mouth" to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr President" is phallic and presents her as a sexual object
• Repeated focus on Marilyn's "audience" including "The US" and "The Whole world" and their reaction to her, "drool(ing)," "whoop(ing)" and "swoon(ing)" personifies the objectification of Marilyn to the world
• Alliteration of "deep dumped" creates an oppressive, weighed down sound to create a tone of defeat surrounding Marilyn's life
• Asyndetic listing and repetition of "action, cut, quiet please" creates a tone of dismemberment and overwhelming pressure put on Marilyn
• Marilyn's image continued to be used even after she was deceased as she "could not die when she died"