Detailed analysis of Mrs Lazarus

 

Context of the poem + Duffy’s intentions
Lazarus of Bethany was resurrected by Jesus after death. He was buried for 4 days. Mrs Lazarus is a fictional character. Lazarus, in this story, is resurrected much later Gives voice to a character who was overlooked Jesus did not consider how Mrs Lazarus would feel when resurrecting her husband Time can heal everything ⇒ losing someone changes you so much that you can’t go back, you have to go on
Spicy points
Grieving process was empowering so Jesus was indirectly undermining Mrs Lazarus Criticises societal norms of marriage and love ⇒ traditional Catholic values
Point	Explanation	Evidence
Her initial grief	Semantic field of loneliness and separation Singular, fractured halves ⇒ she is depressed and misses him   Repetition of “dead, dead” – she can’t come to terms with the truth, has to tell herself, finality Something empty “Noosed the double knot” Trying on his clothes to remember him Tightening the noose to suicide	“Widow, one empty glove”
	Anger Asyndeton and triplet of “howled, shrieked, clawed” Zoomorphism ⇒ animal, uncontrollable, wild Overwhelming grief “dead, dead” Loss of control can be seen through the short syntax (not seen anywhere else in the stanzas) ⇒ speeds up the pace, symbolic of the rapid nature of his death, living day by day	“howled, shrieked, clawed”
	Lack of sexual pleasure = suffering Society expects her not to seek anyone else = loyalty to her husband “Gaunt nun” “touching herself” Lost weight from the bereavement Sarcasm ⇒ expected to be so religious and god-loving No pleasure, ironic, nuns are celibate	“Gaunt nun” “touching herself”
	Religious connotations and lexical field “Stations of Bereavement” “Icon of my face” – she was used as an object, people observing her struggle from the outside She is suffering the same road as Jesus, mourning as a female – hyperbolic parallelism	“Stations of Bereavement” “Icon of my face”
It was not easy for her to overcome the difficulties (sets up the later insensitivity of Jesus and society)
Her ability to mature and move on	Semantic/lexical field of departure “Dwindling, shrunk size” Going / going. Enjambment broken up with a break ⇒ visually sees a break, but read continuously Elongates the pause after the comma to show how it is fate, it is destiny, she has definitely let go
	Symbolism Hair on head floated = religious intertextuality ⇒ “not a hair on your head will perish” in LUKE! Foreshadows his return… Innocent departure, natural, she should move on Small zero held by ring Zero – empty, nothing Clever use ⇒ next line, he was gone Since the representation of Lazarus was the ring, could be inferred that she took off the ring, a modern-day reference to people cheating on their partners
	Sexual relations with another man “BUT i was faithful” ⇒ she presumes/predicts/anticipates that society is criticizing her so she sees the need to defend herself and actions Hedgerows = clandestine sex, secret area for lovers Shock of a man’s strength ⇒ he’s powerful, respectable, whilst Lazarus was sick, weak and diminishing Helps her “heal” ⇒ physical recovery and fulfillment, rhyme in the “field” ⇒ wholesome conclusion to suffering One LONG sentence (syntactical structure – neverending feeling of calmness), poetic and lyrical → long vowels, beautiful flow “Shawl of fine air” ⇒ cosily reflecting on how her life has gotten better ⇒ she deserves peace and tranquility
Female can empower herself Implicit criticism of Catholicism and societal values
Her agony created by Jesus’ “heroism”	Sudden commotion – shock! Short syntax “he lived.” – fate, oh no. Forced, emphatic. “Shouting, barking”, contrast with the tranquility ⇒ unwelcome, overwhelmed   They are completely ignorant of her self-empowerment and transition “Sly” “shrill” ⇒ mimics the crowd “Hot tang” – double t, plosive, suffocating, loud and stuffy
	Contrast between her description of Lazarus now and then “Stench” “dishevelled” “chew” “shroud” vs “scent” “suits” She feels guilty “cuckold” ⇒ unfaithful wife, even though it was in her best intention, society still deems her unfaithful and unloving He is basically decomposing Semantic field of horror, disgust “Bridegroom in rotting” – start of marriage vs death, dressed disgustingly
Society screws women over again and again Jesus thinks he knows better