It is very easy to get the wrong idea about an individual. This can happen so easily because people, naturally, like to put up a facade in hopes that they can shield a less favorable side of themselves. This occurs a lot of the time when the person isn’t happy with who they are or how they are dealing with their problems. In the case of Mrs. Faust by Carol Ann Duffy, a lot of readers take Mrs. Faust to be a soulless human just like Mr. Faust, however a close and careful read shows that, in actuality, she has a very sensitive soul that just wants Mr. Faust’s attention and love.

The first aspect of the poem that shows she is focused on Mr. Faust is the subtle jealousy she displays. While many read “I felt, not jealousy/ but the chronic irritation” (22-24, Duffy), to mean that she truly wasn’t jealous, a close read can distinguish, that given the overall tone of the poem she definitely is jealous. She wants her husband to not need all these other aspects of his life. Instead, to just need her. To just devote all that time to her. This is slightly unpleasing to read, due to the fact that most would prefer to read about someone who is fine on their own. However, clearly Mrs. Faust needs a person in her life to add that fulfillment, otherwise hole in her life will be her sole focus. “I went to yoga, t’ai chi,/Feng Shui, therapy, colonic irritation” (25-26, Duffy). This all shows that even though she says she is annoyed by the whores she goes through all these attempts to distract herself and escape. What she is escaping is herself, her own thoughts about Mr. Faust. No one wants to feel inadequate, but that is what he makes her feel like. He feels the need to obtain all of these extravagances, rather than just settle down and live a happy simple life with his wife. “And Faust would boast/ at dinner parties/ of the cost/ of doing deals out East./Then take his lust to Soho in cab,/ to say the least,/ to lay the ghost/, get lost, meet panthers, feast” (27-25, Duffy). She is not boasting or describing this as some wonderful thing they get to experience, instead just using these facts to prove her point that he gets too swept up in it all, rather than swept up in her. In short, there is a constant feeling of uncomfortableness for readers throughout the poem and it is because Mrs. Faust is just in this awkward position of helplessly loving her husband, and her husband just loving power and material things.

During her time with Faust she spends a lot of it trying to find some sort of way to distract herself, and create some sort of fulfilling life. “As for me, I went my own sweet way,/ saw Rome in a day, spun gold from hay,/ had a facelift,/ had my breasts enlarged,/ While some readers would see these lines as a list of extraordinary experiences, in reality they just show her running from her problems. As well as, embedded in it is her trying to “fix herself” by altering herself to try to regain Faust’s interest. She is undoubtedly not doing this for herself, but for Faust. The fact she dyes her hair, and changes all of the sexual aspects of her body shows how she is desperately trying to get Faust’s attention. Despite all of these vast travels and experiences she is having that usually are enough to have a remarkable impact on anyone’s life, she still is focused on striving to have Faust notice her. She is trying to create a better version of herself, but not for herself, for Faust. These ideas solidify that she is not heartless, but heartbroken. 

The last idea that can be pulled from this poem is a rather intriguing yet relatable idea. Mrs. Faust doesn’t have the head over heels love for Faust, instead she has this struggle where she tosses and turns with how to feel towards him. She doesn’t ever outright say that she just wants Faust to love her, so many don’t believe she loves him. However, given the overall tone of the poem, and what she is describing, it is clear the only thing she is missing from her life isn’t money, fortunate, or opportunity, it’s love. It’s a relationship she can feel comfortable in. Sadly, she is stuck in this uncomfortable place of wanting that, but feeling the need to act strong. Acting like she doesn’t care and is just reaping the benefits of her “soulless” husband. “I smelled cigar smoke,/ hellish, oddly sexy, not allowed” (41-42, Duffy). This is undeniably symbolizing how she feels about him. He is definitely “hellish”, given that he puts her through all of this, with most likely not ever knowing it. This also makes him “oddly sexy” to her due to this constant urning for him she is displaying, but in the end she feels that it “isn’t allowed”. This means she is trying not to kid herself and let herself get swept up in his games too badly. Otherwise, she knows she will end up just being disappointed. This puts an interesting twist on her want for attention, she isn’t a little girl doing whatever she can to get attention, instead she is essentially playing it cool and just keeping these feelings burrowed inside. 

Overall Mrs. Faust is just an unhappy person. She never received the love that she wanted from Mr. Faust and now that chance is gone. This was proven time and time again throughout Mrs. Faust whether it had to do with her jealousy, her attempts to change herself, or grappling to come to a conclusion whether to just submit to loving him, or continue to brush her feelings further back. Even though most would see this at surface level as ways she was a heartless person, but in actuality she was the complete opposite, as it has now been proven she was actually the most sensitive of them all.
