Sub

• Restructuring of history


  Placing women in the roles of men
• 'Sub'


  Referring to substituting one person for another
• Duffy's approach


  • Places herself at key moments within sporting and wider history
  • Inserts a woman where they have been passed over and ignored
• Duffy explores the restructuring of history to place women in the roles of men, hence the title of 'sub' referring to substituting one person for another. Duffy places herself at key moments within sporting and wider history, inserting a woman where they have been passed over and ignored.
• Motherhood


  Not seen as an achievement, but more so a burden due to male dominance
• "Motherhood then kept me busy at home": 'Represents motherhood as a nuisance to the protagonist'
• Protagonist's view of motherhood

  • Languid tone
  • Pessimistic
• Protagonist becomes a mother

  She puts her life on pause for her child and undertakes a "care-taker role"
• The literal role of 'care' falls to the mother which is somewhat degrading as she was previously the one who took England to victory in '66', but now because she's a mother she's been reduced to a cheapening role
• Motherhood was described as the woman's basic mission, profession, and an inseparable part of her nature
• Duffy's portrayal of motherhood

  • Subverts the notion that motherhood is limiting
  • Reveals the empowerment that motherhood provides
• Protagonist's ability to effortlessly fit into any situation

  Represents the empowerment of motherhood
• Protagonist's confidence and adaptability

  • Wiggled, weaved, waved
  • Drummer/bummer
  • Sticked, skinned, mop-topped, fringed
• Protagonist's pregnancy


  Gave her strength to take England to victory once again
• Rebellion against cliche stereotypes is a typical sentiment expressed in postmodernist literature, which is a thematic influence on Duffy's work
• Semantics of menstruation


  Duffy makes no attempt to hide the natural processes of the female body
• In male-dominated environments, Duffy employs 'precious egg', 'boxes over my chest', 'kick/of my child to remind the reader of the presence of the female body
• The voice of the poem is gendered female, Duffy rewriting history to reverse the the exclusion of women
• Poem by Duffy


  • Centralizes the fact of being female
  • No rhyme scheme, uses enjambment and internal rhyme instead
  • Subtle form of rhyme points to the subtextual or hidden achievements of women
  • Monotony of the form reflects the unchanging exclusion of women from history
  • Syntax places "my breasts" at a focal point, making the female body central in the narrative
• Duffy uses the semantics of menstruation to centralize the poem on the fact of being female
• The complete regularity within the poem could be a reflection of how women have been excluded from historic events
• The meter of the opening line falls upon the word 'breasts', placing the feminine experience in plain sight
• Societal expectations of mothers

  • Need to stay at home and take care of their children
  • Preventing mothers from pursuing other activities
• Motherhood is seen as a nuisance to society, even though it should be celebrated
• A woman who achieves has to do so while also balancing the female body
• Women have been excluded from typically masculine aspects of history
• Male dominance and the expectation thrust upon females has led to their removal from the public sphere
• Duffy reveals how women have been excluded from these moments of history
• Protagonist's rebellion


  • Against the male dominated society
  • Against cliche stereotypes
• Postmodernist literature


  Thematic influence on Duffy's work
• Protagonist's rebellion


  Is a typical sentiment expressed in postmodernist literature
• Empowering didact


  Towards motherhood
• Ambiguous ending


  "I think to myself this:"
• The ambiguous ending is a typical sentiment expressed in postmodern literature
• Polysemous


  "I think to myself this:"
• Ending the final line with a colon

  The colon could symbolise how Duffy doesn't think anything at all, the notion that women are excluded from history being represented through the lack of poetry
• Blank space following the colon

  Can come to represent the obfuscation of women's voices, Duffy representing how they are hidden within history and excluded from events
• Colon


  Could also represent everything that Duffy does in her life that follows this moment in her response to the female exclusion from history
• Duffy becomes the first poet laureate of the U.K. and creates a poetic legacy that outstretches many that have come before her
• Polysemous


  Having multiple meanings