POPE

POPE JOAN
JOAN
The legend of the female pope is virtually impossible 
to substantiate historically.  The story says that she 
had travelled Europe, disguised as a monk, and that 
her great learning and piety led to her becoming a 
cardinal in Rome and finally being elected Pope in 
around 855 under the name John VIII.  It is said that 
she was discovered in 857 when, in procession on the 
way to St. Peter’s, she went into labour and gave 
birth to a child at the roadside.  Some endings say 
that mother and child died there; others that she 
was stoned to death and others that she was sent 
away to a convent with her child.  The Catholic 
Church itself denies any mention of a female Pope 
and gives a history of John VIII as ruling from 872 ‐ 
882.  In recent times, Pope Joan has become a 
feminist icon and she appears as a character in Caryl 
Churchill’s play ‘Top Girls’ as well as in a novel by 
Donna Woolfolk Cross, in addition to numerous 
historical studies and a film made in 1972.

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 POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
IT'S A MAN'S WORLD
Read this article about
Nicola Horlick, dubbed 'superwoman' for combining a high flying  'Supermums', bearing in
city career with being a mother of five, claimed in an interview that  mind that it is from the
women are now making it on their own terms in a way that couldn't  'Daily Mail on line' and
be conceived when she first started in the 1980s: therefore biased towards
women's roles.
"There was this tendency for women to try and emulate men.
When you look back at film footage of business women in the Click on the paper clip in
1980s, they all had shoulder pads out to here and were the right hand margin
dripped with gold jewellery. They all spoke in slightly deep
voices and it was all quite scary."
d
Is it still true that there are quite distinct male and female  t h e secon On
ead NEWS
behaviours as well as male and female occupations? Also r B B S
e from
articl
line

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POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
Read the poem and use these notes to help your 
understanding. Make brief annotations on the poem as you 
go.
Duffy gives her own voice to Pope Joan in her poem as she 
imagines being in such a position as a woman.
After I learned to transubstantiate
unleavened bread
into the sacred host

This is the mystery at the heart of the Catholic faith, which 
believes in ‘transubstantiation’ i.e. that the bread and wine are 
changed in essence, not in form, into the body and blood of 
Christ during the Mass.  This not something ‘learned’ in fact, 
but a power conferred on every priest at their ordination.  It is 
believed to descend in direct line from Jesus, who gave this 
power to his apostles at the last supper, just as the Popes are 
said to descend in a direct line from Saint Peter, the first Pope 
who was made Christ’s successor according to the New 
Testament.  As a priest Pope Joan would also have been 
given this power.  The next two stanzas also describe aspects 
of the papal duties, including using the censer during High 
Mass.  This is a container of fragrant smoke which is used to 
symbolise the smoke of sacrifice and the idea of prayers 
ascending heavenwards.  

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 POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
There is an ironic metaphor from Duffy in the ‘blue­green snakes’ as a reminder 
of Eve, the woman responsible for the downfall of the human race.  This idea is 
contrasted with the image of Pope Joan
high up in a papal chair,
blessing and blessing the air
as she makes the sign of the cross towards the crowds on each side and, as she 
says,
nearer to heaven
than cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests,
being Vicar of Rome
This last title is one of those bestowed upon the Pope, who is also a sovereign 
ruler of his own state, ‘Vatican City’ which is mentioned in the next line, along 
with the comment
like the best of men
in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti amen
The Latin blessing means ‘in the name of the father and of the son and of the 
holy spirit’ and the ‘amen’ rhymes with men to indicate the satire of this situation.  
However Duffy’s incarnation of Pope Joan is given an atheistic twist
I came to believe
that I did not believe a word
and she specifically addresses other women
daughters or brides of the Lord,
a reference to God as ‘the father’ and to the fact that nuns when taking their 
vows become ‘brides of Christ’.

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 POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
For Joan the nearest she feels to ‘the power of God’ is 
the experience of childbirth, which she describes 
forcefully
the sense of a hand
lifting me, flinging me down,
lifting me, flinging me down,
as my baby pushed out
from between my legs
where I lay in the road
in my miracle,
not a man or a pope at all.
The miracle of childbirth is seen as far more meaningful 
than all the power and ritual of the male church, and it is 
only through the legend of Pope Joan that this point 
could be made so well.  Although the poem is written in 
conventional three line stanzas, it is all one sentence, 
thus ensuring that all the achievements that most people 
would consider amazing in the story of a female pope 
are merely the prelude to the one thing that no man can 
do ­ give birth to a brand new person, which Duffy 
seems to suggest is nearest to the creative power of 
God.

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 POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
STRUCTURE ‐ TURNING POINTS STRUCTURE ‐ RHYME AND REPETITION

The poem is written in one single sentence leading
the reader finally to Pope Joan's recollection of her
own moment of revelation:
that she is neither man nor Pope and has
experienced her own miracle.
Re‐read the poem and identify the structural turning
points and notice how the poem develops.
I know rhyme is usually associated with comments on
form, but in this poem Duffy does not have a regular
rhyme scheme, BUT there is rhyme in the poem. She
uses rhyme and repetition to structure her poem.
Identify the rhyme and repeated phrases.
How do they contribute to the sense of development
and coherence in the poem?

Try to divide the poem into two sentences instead

of one. Where would you put the break?

What do you think is lost by dividing the poem into

two sentences as opposed to one?

What does Duffy achieve by writing it as one single

long sentence?

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 POPE
POPE JOAN
JOAN
THE LANGUAGE OF THE POEM As late as stanza six, there is no indication of who
Pope Joan is actually talking to.
The poem is created through the language of religion
and the church ‐ even to the extent of quoting Liturgy As is 'Mrs Lazarus' and 'Demeter', we can read it as an
in Latin: internal monologue or a poem spoken to a general,
"in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti unspecified audience (maybe directly to us the
amen" reader).
"in the name of the father, son and holy
In stanza seven, however, she addresses her
ghost, amen"
audience directly:
The section dominated by religious diction culminates
in: direct address

" I came to believe so I will tell you now,

that I did not believe a word," daughters or brides of the lord,

What is the effect of using the very language of the all women
church to tell a tale of loss of faith? or female married women Christ or all
believers in or nuns ‐ the men
What happens to the language after this point? Christianity brides of christ

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Attachments

Superwoman is a myth.doc

Nicola Horlick BBC NEWS on line.doc