The Map Woman - Feminine Gospels

The Map Woman 

Title: 

"The Map Woman" = super hero quality

"The" = definite article, the woman is unique 

"Map" = where we've come from & where we've been, maps were often made by men (travllers & pirates) Duffy is perhaps asking us to think about men drawing up the world - the feminine approach is different from males, the woman creates the map on her skin. Perhaps maps symbolise theidea that women are 'drawn' from male expectations. 

Structure: 

13 stanzas each with 10 lines - rigid, tight structure, perhaps represents the clear and methodical way in which a map is presented. 

No regular rhyme scheme = the woman's body will change & so will her identity 

Techniques/Language/Themes: 

Simile = "her veins like shadows below the lines of the map" the map is a part of the woman's identity, her past & present, the map itself cannot really ever be changed or separated from her body, her memories are carried with her. 

Pressures from society & sibilance = "she sponged, soaped, scrubbed;" the woman aims to get rid of the map, idea that society tells women what they shouldn't have, the woman has…