GCSE English Literature Poetry (3)

Before You Were Mine

• Description
• Poem is written as if Duffy is peaking to her own mother.
• Moves freely between the present and different times in the past, which is frequently referred to in the present tense.
• It is also about how the duty of becoming a mother changed life for women, particularly for Catholics in Edinburgh in the 1950s, where women were expected to stay at home and look after their children.
• We get the impression Duffy is very fond of her mother.
• Language
• "Your polka dot dress blows around your legs. Marilyn." - gives the reader images of the iconic representation of Marilyn Monroe standing on…