Literal Meaning and Deeper Implications: Word Choice in "Salome" and "Penelope" Ulemj Tsendjav 11th Grade

“No poet, no artist of any art has their meaning alone” T.S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood. Artists of all kinds use intertextuality to take the original text and transform and reconstruct it to fit into the new interpretation. By connecting two texts and restructuring the prior meaning, it helps the audience to gain a deeper understanding of the first text while exploring a new ideology Carol Ann Duffy is a lesbian, Scottish feminist poet who strongly uses intertextuality in her ‘The World’s Wife” book. From the book, poems “Salome” and “Penelope”, specifically takes references from myths and their characters and plot to remodel it to a feminist concept and show the story from a female perspective.

In the original myths, Penelope and Salome are displayed as powerless and nameless two women who had gained recognition after marrying men. The original storyline follows the stereotype of women as being weak, incapable and oblivious. However, Duffy takes the original line and transforms it into a feminine concept. Firstly, the prior texts are told from a third-person where they are the side characters to a story, yet Duffy’s poems tell the story from a first-person perspective using voice.

“I wore a widow’s face, kept my head down,

did my...