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QUEEN HEROD   

Duffy has taken elements from the biblical gospels, revised them, and woven them together to create an alternative female perspective. She uses the biblical story of King Herod to give a feminist slant by giving the viewpoint of Queen Herod and by making the 3 kings queen’s instead There are also some echoes of T.S.Elliot’s famous poem “the journey of the magi”

OVERVIEW: Queen Herod welcomes the 3 queens to the palace The 3 queens bring gifts to the newly born girl child and Queen Herod swears to protect her daughter from male exploitation. The poem ends by Queen Herod ordering the deaths of all sons

ANALYSIS:  Queen Herod is the speaker and we see things through her perspective.  The second female voice given substantial importance is that of the 3 queens  It opens with the arrival at the palace gates of the matriarchal 3 queens in the middle of winter. They are an allusion to the 3 kings and appear to be majestic and exotic. (e.g. they’re “dressed in furs, accented”)  Like the biblical magi they bring gifts but this time for the King and Queen who entertain them in return  The poem is not immediately a first person account but instead the narration dwells on the physical setting and the striking appearance of the 3 queens  Line 4 is the first of many sexual innuendos. The women ride mighty beasts, showing their sexual power and dominance  Herod’s palace is equally as exotic (Line 9). Herod, who represents masculinity in the poem, is quickly dismissed and disregarded. Traditionally he is a powerful leader but here he is drunk and falls asleep, allowing the women to attend to more important business.  The queens are taken to see the new daughter in the crib, a clear reference to the nativity scene and the birth of Jesus.

 The second stanza opens by linking the wisdom of these female magi to their age and experience  The gifts they bring are grace, strength and happiness.  The Queen’s daughter appears almost as a sleeping beauty and the 3 queens become the fairy godmothers in the fairy tale – giving gifts and administering their awful warning.  The baby is equated with wealth (lines 22,23 and 24).  We learn little about the guests except that the tallest queen gives the baby grace – whether this s physical or spiritual is left ambiguous. The second queen has hennaed hands and is therefore presumable Asian, her gift is strength – again it is unclear whether this is physical or moral strength. The third queen is black and gives the baby happiness whilst she stares lustfully at her mother – it would seem to make clear that the happiness is unlikely to be brought by a man.  Female sexuality, lesbianism, and female power are alluded to as Queen Herod and the Black Queen engage in a serious of suggestive looks and actions. (lines 29 and 30)

 The disquieting queens, one very tall, one visibly exotic and the other, who’s body language that intimidates, are juxtaposed with the lyrically invoked baby.  The baby is “silver and gold” glowing “soft and tiny”. Her minuteness is suggested by the suddenly short lines, her vulnerability by the fact that she is fast asleep and that her fist (a symbol of aggression) is merely small and pretty.  Apart from gifts they issue a warning – a star in the east signals the birth of a male boy. The lines are heavy with symbolism and provide various levels of meaning; for instance, lines 33 recalls Christ’s crucifixion, suffering and death.  The warning heralds not the birth of the saviour but one who represents man kind  From line 35 to 39 we find a series of clichés either used in love songs and romantic cards or used about men who are apparently irresistible but serially unfaithful  The poem suggests that the suffering will be endured by the female child (as opposed to the traditional male counterpart in the story of the birth of Jesus where Christ suffered) and also the matriarchal line  The birth of the boy represents masculinity rather than Jesus specifically. It also provides a threatening element and an overbearing nature of masculinity.  The list of male figures (from line 31) presented by the 3 queens almost insinuates the different guises (forms) that this boy can take.  The queens warning to watch means that however positive a role he plays, any man would pose a threat to the narrators daughter.  The reference to the crucifixion leads us to believe that even Jesus, or the male dominated church, is a threat and at the same time Duffy is using the ultimate image of cruelty in justice and self-sacrifice to show just how painful the boyfriends impact can be.

 The baby then wakes and is both reassuringly typical (“stirred, suckled the empty air”) and frighteningly susceptible. The suckling gesture implies that soon the narrator will be unable to nourish her and the girl will turn to people whose care for her is inadequate.  The short lines are direct, for instance “I knelt”, which suggests that the narrator worships her child as Mary did Jesus.  Allusions to lesbianism and the power of motherhood are found in lines 43-45  The Black Queen, clearly with her own agenda, “scooped out my breast, the left, guiding it down to the infants mouth” perhaps hints more at a supportive and practical sisterhood among the women than the predatory signals given in the second verse – the act is both sexual and nurturing (female sexual power, mother and lover)  The intimacy of the Black Queen’s gesture gives an added emphasis to the vow made by Queen Herod when she says “no man, I swore, would make her shed one tear”  The narrators defiant vow seems unrealistic even as she speaks it. She is perhaps unfair and certainly unwise to target all men and her promise of not even one tear is impractical.  The scream of the peacock outside acts as a protest from the proudest of male birds – it is a well-known bird of ill omen whose gaudy display perfectly shows arrogance, and yet its harsh sound mocks the narrators doting naivety.  The significance and power of the 3 queens is evident when Queen Herod takes heed of their warnings and swears to protect her child.  Connotations of power and sexuality are present when the 3 Queens leave. They are compared to God’s which can be contrasted with Herod who has no dignity.

 In stanza 4 Duffy describes physical sensations, mostly unpleasant ones to add immediacy to her story. There is for instanced the pungent smell of the camels, the cold of the snow and the rough sounds of the guides shout.  The guide himself is an unattractive character with gross habits - his greed and the suggestion that he is fond of young girls. There is contrast between this rough man and a delicate girl.

 There is a real sense of loss when the Queen’s depart, leaving the narrator to reflect on the dream-like tone of their visit - Wistfully watching each gorgeous woman “rise like a God” and herself come brutally down to earth “splayed” like a helpless animal below “Herod’s fusty bulk” provides us of an insight into her views on her marriage.  The warnings of the Black Queen are similarly highlighted by Duffy’s literal and metaphorical use of the senses. The Queen’s eyes are fierce, they flash, and her words scold.  The repetition of ‘watch’ and ‘star’ and the inconclusiveness of the ellipsis in line 55 again stress the gravity of the situation.  Queen Herod’s fear of her daughter meeting one of the men described in lines 35-39 shows Duffy’s opinion as well as an attack on a woman’s expected role in life. Their relationship is described by Queen Herod in terms of female sexual subjugation (submissiveness). Their sexual encounter seems to fuel her hatred of the masculine as she recalls the Black Queen’s words.

 Stanza 5 is short fair and brisk. As the verse progresses, the narrator’s words are nearly all uncompromisingly monosyllabic and ambiguous. The words of command are further stressed by being italicised.  The warning, for Queen Herod, is not of a new king to threaten her power but of a “swaggering lad” and a “wincing prince” (another reference to the sleeping beauty story) who would either break her daughter’s heart or marry her and take her name away. This is further proof of her discontent with marriage when she makes references to the traditional symbols of marriage; love, a prince charming and a gold ring. These marriage symbols are all devalued and ignite her anger, making her call for the chief of staff and ordering the death of each mother’s son.  This loss of identity with only a ring in return seems unbearable to Queen Herod and, as such, she orders the massacre of the innocent to protect her daughter.  The chief of staff is an appropriate choice to lead such an expedition. He is a “mountain man” who is “mean” and who has suffered.  Her instructions recognise that the murdered children will have mothers and they too will suffer like herself. However she is ruthless saying “spare not one”.  Duffy undermines the original story. Herod’s motives for the massacre of the innocent are replaced by his wife’s. She wants to murder the boy children as she fears the loss of female power symbolised in her daughter’s potential domination by patriarchy.  However, if Herod’s narrative (the original story) is to run its course the prophecy will inevitably come true.

 In stanza 6, the prophecy from the old testament of a new star in the east comes true.  The final verses accentuate Queen Herod’s anxiety that the power of the female line will indeed be lost to the male.  Duffy uses tension in the stanza to build up to the appearance by using personification to describe “the chattering stars” and the way they shivered in a nervous sky. This is known as ‘pathetic fallacy’. Duffy develops the traditional personification of the constellations where O Ryan is cynical and the rhyme score before emphasises his lack of interest. He is a hunter, treating him as if he were a real man “who knew the score” with his “yapping Dog Star” at his heels.  The universe is heartlessly beautiful and dazzling, but this is overseen because the appearance of the new star is heralded by “and then” and what the narrator calls “The Boyfriend’s Star” which is described in confident and aggressive adjectives such as “blatant, brazen, buoyant” (the alliteration adding to the impression of arrogance)  The poet could be alluding to the historical treatment of women in the Christian church by modifying the nativity story over the last 2000 years in which gender roles have been clearly

defined along patriarchal principles in which women have been denied positions of equal authority with men.

 The final part of the poem deal with the fierce protection Queen Herod feels towards her daughter both as a mother and as a queen and the mother of a future queen.  This repeats the archetypal idea of the mother, tender and protective towards her baby, who turns into a fierce aggressor if anything threatens her child, but restricted in this poem specifically to girls. In this way Duffy explores the reversal of the patriarchal attitudes of the Christian churches where saviour, the prophets, the magi and the destroyers are male.  In the poem the picture of women is not one of subjugation – they are all fierce matriarchs; bold and ruthless in the protection of their daughters and their line.

STRUCTURE AND TONE: The poem is written in free verse with no metrical pattern but some rhyme. The little instances of rhyme and para-rhyme suggest that each aspect of the story is shot through with memories and each stanza represents a separate episode, often very different in content and tone. It is in the form of a dramatic monologue with a few passages of dialogue. It is divided into 9 stanzas of different lengths The last 3 stanzas appear to be more regular The stanzas vary from 24 to 3 lines and the length of the lines vary from 12 to 3 syllabus. The irregular line and stanza length suggests that the mind of the narrator is very troubled as she makes her terrible confession and reveals her sparing conclusions. The effect created on the reader is often disturbing It is told with the use of enjambment. It gives a breathless, almost delirious tone to the narrators account, especially with the use of shorted lines for emphasis.

BACKGROUND: King Herod is infamous for the slaughter of the innocent in the New Testament. Traditionally the bible story reports that the 3 wise men and kings (the Magi) stopped at his court on their journey following the star to ask if Herod knew the whereabouts of the new born King. This alarmed Herod who did not want a rival king setting up against him, so he entertained the 3 wise men magically and pretended he wanted to visit the new baby, begging them to return and tell him when they had found the child. After they had taken their gifts to the infant Jesus, however, they returned home by a different route and Mary and Joseph, warned by an angel of Herod’s murderous intentions. took the baby and travelled into Egypt. Meanwhile Herod, thwarted of his revenged, ordered that all male children in Bethlehem of the appropriate age should be killed....