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Revision and Recreation of Tradition in Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife7 April 1852.Went to the Zoo.I said to Him –Something about that Chimpanzee over there reminds me ofyou.In one of the funniest and most economical poems of the wholecollection, Duffy manages to make the reader laugh as she hints atwoman’s higher intelligence.A darker side of women is shown through Mrs. Quasimodo, who actsout of jealousy of the beautiful Esmeralda, and destroys her husband’sbeloved bells of Notre Dame Cathedral. Likewise, Medusa is resentful andviolent, driven by a deep desire to turn all those she stares at into stone,as in the traditional version of the myth. Her face is hideous and her hairfull of serpents, but her transformation from the ravishingly beautifulwoman she once was into the monster she becomes is the consequence ofher own decision to take revenge, rather than the result of Poseidon’slust, as in Ovid’s version of the Greek myth.On the other hand, other recreations show a softer side of women. Thepoem “Delilah”, for example, shows a different perspective of the Biblicalfigure of Samson as a brave, even ruthless warrior, but thirsty oftenderness and intimacy as well:Teach me, he saidwewere lying in bedhowto care.[...]I can rip out the roarfrom the throat of a tiger,or gargle with fire,or sleep one whole night in the Minotaur’s lair.[...]but I cannot be gentle, or loving or tender.I have to be strong.What is the cure? (vv. 1-3, 7-10, 19-21)At the same time, the poem shows a different aspect of Delilah. Nolonger is she the treacherous and ambitious woman ready to betray herlover, but rather an understanding and sensitive one, absolutelyconvinced that she is the only person capable of bringing about thechange he is looking for. So, in order to help him become the affectionateand sensitive man he wants to turn into, and in spite of knowing she willlose him, “with deliberate, passionate hands / [she] cut every lock of hishair.” (vv. 33-42)ILyCE, FFyL, UNCuyo 105