Salome by Carol Ann Duffy

Language techniques:

• 1st person-selfish - one-sided, we only get one view of the story
• colour-the colour red keeps coming up-could represent danger or blood-violence.
• religious references - story out of the bible. 

Structual techniques:

• ollipsis-she's not sure what she is/was doing-there was no reason for it
• question marks-confusion-shes not sure who she slept with- not sure why she did it.
• long to short stanzas-shows how life is too short 
• dashes- crazy, irrational behaviour

Themes

• Violence
• Guilt
• Pain
• Unaware
• irrational behaviour
• Selfishness

Meaning:

• Negative view of womenin society-they are often seen as promiscuous if they sleep around
• The woman is seen as mad in this poem-if a man was in this position would he be seen as the same?

• Havisham-irrational behaviour
• Before you were mine-Selfishness
• Hitcher-violent behaviour
• On My first Sonne-someone dies, but we see different perspectives
• The Man He Killed-No reason for killing the other person
• My Last Duchess-possessive-selfish
• The Laboratory-seen as psychotic behaviour