Impossibility is the main ingredient of the poems, overall (25)

Duffy’s collection of poetry, Feminine Gospels, is chiefly a collection filled with the impossible. From
the repulsive transformations of the protagonists in poems such as “The Diet” and “The Woman
Who Shopped”, to the metaphysical and cosmic nature of Ella’s journey to discover “The Cord”.
However, these poems are also interposed with more hard-hitting impossibilities, such as the
inequalities same sex couples face in “White Writing”, and the lack of female figureheads in history,
as seen in “Sub”. Indeed, it can be argued that Duffy mixes both fantastical and societal
impossibilities throughout the collection, in an effort to expose patriarchal society, and the view it is
“impossible” to overcome.

Near the beginning of the collection, “The Diet” is the first time the reader is introduced to the trope
of a “repulsive transformation”. In these poems, women set to change themselves in some way –
through dieting, shopping, working – with a positive outlook on the change. Throughout the poem,
these transformations turn repulsive, and often lead to a dark, ambiguous ending, possibly alluding
to the protagonist’s death. This theme runs throughout the first half of the collection, the poems
serving as an allegorical critique on the oppression women experience. This impossibility is
foreshadowed in the first line of the poem – “The diet worked like a dream”, in which Duffy uses the
conceit of a “dream” to argue that a ‘perfect’ diet is an impossibility. “By the end of the month”, our
protagonist is described as “skin and bone”. Duffy begins to use grotesque and morbid imagery,
describing how “her skeleton preened under its tight flesh dress”, and how she had “guns for hips”.
This idea of the protagonist’s body becoming grotesque and repulsive seems fantastical to the
reader, under the volta in stanza three. Duffy states “She was Anorexia’s true daughter”. This creates
the sense of a the reader being presented with the harsh truth that anorexia is, in fact, real, turning
the idea of eating disorders from a fantastical notion to a harsh reality. The idea of harsh realities
being presented as impossibilities is also seen through “Sub”. Unlike “The Diet”, the message of this
poem is a lot more obvious: combatting the lack of feminine representation in the major historical
events of the 20th century. The lexical field of menstruation and female anatomy is seen in the first
few stanzas of the poem, describing how the narrator “came on” during major events in history – all
of which being male dominated. Duffy forces herself into the phallocentric past, allowing herself,
and, in turn, all women, become the hero. Duffy purposely uses 20th century events in order to
create a more relatable narrative for her audience, as many will have lived through the events,
ultimately confronting the audience with the reality of the lack of female representation. This links
to the more modern HERstory movement, which seeks to tell intersectional feministic stories
throughout history, many of which have been silenced by education and the media. Overall, “Sub” is
written with a more empowering tone overall, but the fact that the underrepresentation of women
in history is presented in such a fantastical and impossible way, confronts the reader with the truth
that the patriarchal nature of society is more than fantastical, achieving this by using real-life
memorable events.

The misogynistic nature of society is also seen in the second half of “Sub”, when Duffy describes her
experience on the moon. She compares the “small step for a man for Neil” to a “small hop for me”.
Duffy is directly acknowledging the patriarchal nature of society, showing how women’s
achievements are always seen as lesser than men’s. The ending of the poem seems to agree with
this – ending suddenly with the line “what I think to myself is this:” The fact that nothing but a blank
space follows seems to create the idea that women are seen as mindless, and not having thoughts of
their own. Duffy juxtaposes the narrator’s impossible achievements with the fact that society still
objectifies her, and refuses to acknowledge her own thoughts, seeing her as nothing but a
metaphorical blank space. Society’s view is also seen in “The Diet”. It is worth noticing how the “fat
woman” is written as a monster who causes the thin woman’s death. The thin woman is not blamed
for her destruction – but the blame is placed on the fat woman for her repulsive end. This mimics
society’s obsession with thinness, as seen in the modern day through heavily photoshopped models,
and women being forced to be underweight in order to be viewed as “pretty”, as seen through
companies like Victoria’s Secret. The Diet serves as a warning, creating the notion that the harsh
reality of anorexia can only be seen through an impossible metaphor.

In conclusion, in “Feminine Gospels, Duffy creates a fine line between harsh truths and fantastical
impossibilities. This ultimately creates an introspective piece of work which serves to question and
expose the patriarchal and oppressive nature of 21st century society.