The evolution of violence as manifested in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy

Abstract EN

Artistic expressions that incorporate themes of violence are similarly ever-present across time and cultures, as can be readily seen in poetry from the earliest classics to the present.

Of interest is how violence is portrayed in poetry (and elsewhere in society and the media) has changed over time.

Carol Ann Duffy, one of the contemporary most prominent poets, infuses the vast majority of her poetry with themes of violence particularly for individuals society has left behind.

A brief comparison of Duffy's contemporary poetry to that of Robert Browning's disturbing portrayal of violence in Victorian England is then completed with an analysis of violence in several poems of Duffy's poetry.

The evolution of how themes of violence are presented in poetry will be demonstrated to have grown more specific and significant in today's rapid-paced culture.

Keywords: violence, crime, madness, Carol Ann Duffy