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Extract from the introduction of the English Essay:
Discuss the Importance of Barbara Berill in Spies.

All characters are constructed by an author to help develop a novel through expanding its plot, adding new perceptions to events, and to strengthen other character relations; though while with some characters it is obvious that they either take main role or are bystanders, there are those whose importance can not easily be determined. Barbara Berill is one of these characters, a construct who appears throughout the modern 21 st century novel Spies by Michael Frayn. The reader’s first impressions of Barbara Berill come from Stephen the narrative voice and lead character in this work of fiction in chapter two when we get a brief description of her personality being ‘sly and treacherous’ which is expanded on in the third chapter when he explains how she’s ‘always hanging around when you don’t want her’.

Mrs Midas is shown as the typical content housewife, where her main two concerns in life are the husband and her house; which is shown through the strong domestic imagery of the first stanza. The storyline is evolved from Greek mythology, where King Midas was granted one wish after pleasing the Gods, to which he wished that everything touched by him would turn to gold, clearly not thinking of the obvious consequences. Carol Ann Duffy uses the wife’s perspective on this story to implement the idea of how intimacy is lost in a relationship after marriage.

Extract from Poetry Analysis
Speaks of the poem Mrs.Midas by Carol Ann Duffy