Standing Female Nude

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Standing Female Nude” was the title poem of Duffy’s first collection, and can be taken as a symbolic reference to her status as a poet at the time, in that she was laying her soul bare by standing up for feminism in a male-dominated world. The practicality of the model is reinforced by the start and the finish of the poem. How does it begin and end? With money. At first, the model goes, "Six hours like this for a few francs." In the final two lines, money is still the focus: "I say / Twelve francs and get my shawl." Nonetheless, Feminine Gospels (2002), as the title suggests, is a concentration on the female point of view. It is a celebration of female experience, and it has a strong sense of magic and fairytale discourse. However, as in traditional fairytales, there is sometimes a sense of darkness as well as joy. Birth, death and the cycles and stages of life feature strongly, including menstruation, motherhood and aging. Duffy’s beloved daughter Ella was born in 1995, and her experience of motherhood has deeply influenced her poetry (as well as inspiring her to write other works for children). Poems such as 'The Cord' and 'The Light Gatherer' rejoice in new life, while ‘Death and the Moon’ mourns those who have passed on: ‘[…] I cannot say where you are. Unreachable / by prayer, even if poems are prayers. Unseeable / in the air, even if souls are stars […]’. New York. An American Place. "Exhibition of Four Americans: Dove, Marin, O'Keeffe, Stieglitz, and Picasso," October 17–November 27, 1941, no. 16. Anne Carnegie Edgerton. "Picasso's 'Nude Woman' of 1910." Burlington Magazine 122 (July 1980), pp. 498–502, fig. 52.

Williamstown, Mass. Williams College Museum of Art. "Second Williams College Alumni Loan Exhibition: In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Williams College Museum of Art and Professor S. Lane Faison, Jr.," May 9–June 13, 1976, no. 66.Duffy’s poem also draws on the historical context of the art world, referencing the works of famous artists such as Titian and Rubens, who were known for their depictions of the female form. However, Duffy’s poem challenges the traditional male gaze and offers a new perspective on the female nude.

Milton W. Brown. The Story of the Armory Show. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1963]. New York, 1988, p. 302, no. 351. Percy North. "Bringing Cubism to America: Max Weber and Pablo Picasso." American Art 14 (autumn 2000), p. 77 n. 25. Alfred Stieglitz. "Under Postage: [Letter] to the Art Editor." New York Times (December 24, 1939), p. 91.This is ironic and slightly tragic because the before the woman realizes that the painting does not look like her, she fantasizes that the painting would be hung “in great museums” (line 5) and that the Queen of England appreciates her “magnificent” figure (line 13). The woman thought that she would be renowned and praised by the upper class for standing nude for the artist, only to find out she is absent from the painting, which she spent “six hours” posing for. The irony is that just like how the bourgeoisie determines what is “Art”, the artist also determines how he would like to paint the woman and how much credit she is going to get. In the next lines, she draws a comparison between what the artist values, her “volume,” and what she values, the fact that she needs to eat. As the poem concludes the speaker tries to communicate with the artist. He is unreceptive and tells her to be quiet. When she sees the painting at the end of the day she cannot recognize herself. All those hours and the only thing “Georges” depicted was what he wanted to see. Rotterdam. Museum Boymans. "Van Clouet tot Matisse, Tentoonstelling van franse tekeningen uit amerikaanse collecties," July 31–September 28, 1958, no. 216. Sarah Greenough, ed. My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Vol. 1, 1915–1933. New Haven, Conn., 2011, pp. 94, 727.