What is the significance of gender roles in Carol Ann Duffy’s poems, ‘Salome’ and ‘Delilah’, from the collection, ‘The World’s Wife’?

Defined as the “social and behavioural norms which, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex” (European Institute for Gender Equality, n.d.), gender roles pervade every aspect of daily life across cultures. The World’s Wife, a collection of poetry written by Carol Ann Duffy, comprises 30 feminist retellings of famous myths and legends in which gender roles are constantly presented and, in some cases, challenged. In the original tales, female characters usually play an insignificant role, or take the part of the wicked antagonist. In The World’s Wife, the female characters “abdicate all feminine gender norms; they have casual sex, discard marriage, smoke, drink, swear, and rebel against society’s expectations” (Tisha & Rahman, 2021), which has the effect of subverting female archetypes.

 

The poem, Salome, alludes to the biblical story of the beheading of John the Baptist, the Jewish preacher who lived in the early 1st century AD. In the story, King Herod bore a grudge against John the Baptist after he declared the King’s marriage to Herodias unlawful. After his stepdaughter, Salome, danced for the King at his birthday banquet, he offered to give her anything she pleased. With advice from her mother (Herodias), Salome requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter (Mark 6:21-29, NIV, 2012). Thus, John the Baptist was killed by King Herod. In this story, men are portrayed as powerless victims of women, who have power through seduction. The story places blame on Salome rather than King Herod for John the Baptist’s death, branding Salome as evil.

 

Salome, like many of the other poems in this collection, is a dramatic monologue, placing focus on the female characters and their thoughts. Salome is portrayed as blasé and uncaring. At the beginning of the poem, Salome wakes up and notices the head of John the Baptist, who was killed the night before, on the pillow besideher. Duffy utilises rhetorical questions, “whose? – what did it matter?” in lines 3-4 (Duffy, 1999), to indicate Salome’s lack of consideration as she struggles to recall the murder that she had indirectly committed. Salome is displayed in this case as unemotional, counteracting the common stereotype that women are always caring and sensitive.

 

Salome’s indifference is further demonstrated through the use of hypophora: “what was his name?”, “Peter? Simon? Andrew? John?” in lines 13-14 (Duffy, 1999), each of which are names of the 12 Apostles (Nelson, 2021). Duffy’s throw-away mention of these important religious figures subverts their importance, and removes them from their pedestal. This reverses the traditional role of women of supporting and submitting to men, especially if they are well-respected religious figures. Abruptly, Salome stops trying to remember the name of the man, midway through a line, and becomes concerned with her own needs: “I knew I’d feel better”, “for tea, dry toast, no butter” (Duffy, 1999). Her quick change of focus further demonstrates her uncaring nature, and self-absorbed personality, challenging the role of women in providing for men.

 

Duffy reverses the gender roles presented in the story: in lines 4-5, Salome describes John the Baptist’s look: “good-looking, of course “dark hair, rather matted”, “the reddish beard several shades lighter” (Duffy, 1999). Salome is objectifying and sexualising John the Baptist by fixating on his physical appearance rather coldly. This could be seen as a subversion of gender roles, a form of revenge, since Salome was sexualised during the King’s banquet.

 

Finally, men are portrayed as vulnerable, helpless and weak through the simile, “like a lamb to the slaughter” in line 31 (Duffy, 1999). Salome describes John theBaptist as such because he was so easily seduced by her. This is also a biblical allusion as lambs are a symbol of the “purest and more beautiful sacrificial victim, destined to be offered as a sacrifice to God”, due to their “innocence and absence of guilt” (Holyart.co.uk, 2022). This comparison further subverts gender expectations that men are assertive and even untouchable.

 

Interestingly, Duffy does not seek to reconstruct the Bible’s perception of Salome as cruel, which could be regarded as anti-feminist. Rather, she embraces Salome’s evil characteristics, perhaps in order to prove that women are capable of evil, are not always victims, and should be held to the same standards as men (rendering them equal).

 

The poem Delilah also presents insights into gender roles. The poem explores the story of a woman mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, Delilah, whose lover, Samson, was a Nazarene with great physical strength. Delilah was bribed by the lords of the Philistines to find out the source of Samson’s strength. After three failed attempts, she finally convinced Samson into telling her that his strength comes from his hair. As he slept, Delilah ordered a servant to cut Samson's hair, therefore allowing her to turn him over to the Philistines (Judges 16, NIV, 2012). As also seen in Salome, this story presents a cunning and wicked female character.

 

The poem opens: “Teach me, he said”. This is an immediate example of the reversal of gender roles, as men are often portrayed as being more knowledgeable than women. “He” (Samson) further demonstrates his vulnerability by asking “how to care” in line 3 (Duffy, 1999). Caring is a conventionally female trait. Not only is Samson exposing himself as being inferior, in his seeking of information, but he also wants to know how to care. In the original story, Delilah questions Samsonabout how he acquired his physical strength; Duffy reframes this narrative which focuses on physical strength rather than emotional strength.

 

Later on, in line 19, Samson expresses his desire to be “gentle, or loving, or tender” in line 20. Duffy addresses the issue of toxic masculinity when Samson expresses, “I have to be strong” in line 21 (ibid.). It is clear that there are immense societal pressures on Samson to be strong, and in this case, it is Samson himself who is rejecting the gender roles and reversing them.

 

Delilah is depicted as a more powerful character in many senses. The seating position of the two characters (line 26 -  “he lay with his head in my lap”) (Duffy, 1999) implicitly implies his inferiority as he is lying lower than her. Samson’s voice is described as an onomatopoeic “soft burr” in line 28 (ibid.), which additionally implies weakness, juxtaposed with his supposed strength.

 

The reversal of roles, women’s dominance over men, is tacitly suggested through foreshadowing. Delilah’s task from the Philistines is to kill him. At the end of the poem, Delilah cuts off Samson’s hair and thereby removes his strength. There is foreshadowing through the subtle end-rhymes of the word “hair”, such as “care”, “lair”, “bear” and “dare” (Duffy, 1999). She felt him “soften and sleep” in line 34 (ibid.), signifying his vulnerability through alliteration, which may foreshadow the snipping sound of scissors. The poem ends with, “I cut off every inch of his hair” (ibid.). This event in the poem emphasises female empowerment as she physically removed power from him.

 

Through the use use of techniques such as flagrant appropriation, provocation and reworking of Biblical stories, to the more subtle use of hypophora, similes, and

 

onomatopoeia, Duffy presents gender roles as a dominant theme of the two poems, Salome and Delilah. In Salome, the female character is depicted as a cruel murderer. Even though many other feminist forms of media may portray women positively, Duffy does not shy away from depicting female characters as evil, as a powerful statement. Furthermore, the high status of religious figures is subverted and challenged. In Delilah, focus is placed on the male character who feels inferior in his emotional intelligence. The female character is presented as wise and superior intellectually and also physically, as she manages to manipulate Samson with ease. These two poems, in comparison to others in this anthology, are particularly relevant in discussing gender roles due to their allusion to biblical stories; Duffy subverts traditional roles of women, influenced by Christianity, with her modern interpretations and reappropriation. In conclusion, through Salome and Delilah, Duffy presents gender roles in a unique way that leads readers to question hierarchical gender structures and society’s ascribed roles on men and women.

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Duffy, C.A. (1999) “Delilah ,” in The World's Wife. London: Picador, pp. 29–30.

 

Duffy, C.A. (1999) “Salome ,” in The World's Wife. London: Picador, pp. 56–57.

 

Gender roles (no date) European Institute for Gender Equality. European Institute for Gender Equality. Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/thesaurus/terms/1209 (Accessed: November 15, 2022).

 

Holyart.co.uk (2022) The symbolism of the easter lamb, Holyart.co.uk Blog. Available at: https://www.holyart.co.uk/blog/special-occasions/the-symbolism-of-the-easter-lam b/ (Accessed: November 27, 2022).

 

Nelson, R. (2021) Who were the 12 apostles? The Complete Guide, OverviewBible. Available at: https://overviewbible.com/12-apostles/ (Accessed: November 15, 2022).

 

Tisha, K.F. and Rahman, M.H. (2021) Giving voice to the voiceless: A feminist approach to Carol Ann Duffy's poetry, SSRN. European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies. Available at -

 

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3842364%20(Accessed:%20November%2021,%202022).