The objectification of women is not a new occurrence. Women are held to impossibly high standards by the society around them. Every little imperfection is criticized as women are taught to strive for nothing short of perfection. Women go to great lengths to change their physical appearance in order to reach these standards. Marge Piercy speaks to this in her poem “Barbie Doll.” In this poem Piercy discusses about how a young girl was only seen as a “fat nose” on “thick legs.” This image drove the girl to such insanity that eventually she cuts off her nose and legs to be “more beautiful.” While the young girl is not of material wealth, she still had an image in her head of how she needed to look. She felt that she was not flawless unless those standards were met. She would not feel like the “Barbie Doll” she wanted to be. Carol Ann Duffy also reaches out to readers to try and challenge these irrationally high standards. Duffy tests the gender relationships that so often show men as authority figures and women as their objects. She uses her poetry to show readers what is wrong with these ideologies of women and their physical appearance. Consequently, a lot of the objectification she speaks on comes from material wealth. Duffy uses the descriptions of Mrs Faust’s body and her relationship with her husband to show how lifestyles built on material wealth objectify women.  

Duffy depicts Faust with a God-like presence, and because of this, Mrs Faust lives her life as someone’s object. The way that Faust is able to manipulate and control the people around him is masterful. Tricking people is his devilish forte. Duffy states, “Faust was Cardinal, Pope, / knew more than God”(Duffy 54-55). Nobody is supposed to know more than God. Duffy, however, chooses to use this description to demonstrate just how powerful and influential Faust is.  This power and influence has given Faust the supremacy to convince Mrs Faust that she is just a material object and not an actual human being and therefore there is no sense of attachment. When Faust began cheating Mrs Faust “felt, not jealousy, /but the chronic irritation” (Duffy 24-25).  Mrs Faust was not even upset that she was betrayed, but rather she was just annoyed, as if the indiscretion was not upsetting on an emotional level. This reaction comes with the lack of attachment. To Faust she was a used object that did not have much value anymore. However, Mrs Faust had grown just a bad as her husband: “Faust’s face/ was clever, greedy, slightly mad. /I was as bad” (Duffy 16-18). Faust did not act greedy, clever or mad; it was rather just a part of him, as if it were natural. Duffy makes it seem as if Faust’s characteristics are equal to a part of his body. Duffy continues by saying that Mrs Faust is just as bad as Faust. This furthers the idea that Faust has turned Mrs Faust into an object, and that he does not treat her as an equal. Again the imbalance of power can be seen in the relationship between Mrs Faust and her husband. Duffy portrays and compares Faust to God for this very reason. If there were not such a large imbalance of power, Faust would not hold so much influence over Mrs Faust.  Faust and Mrs Faust have become objects in their own lives. They have succumbed to the greed and lust for material wealth, and in doing so lost their own sense of self.  Duffy also notes that Faust did not earn said material wealth. He sold his “soul” to the devil in return for all of these worldly possessions.  Because of this, Faust feels a sense of entitle meant. Anything he wants, he believes he should get.

As well as a poor relationship with Faust, Mrs Faust is constantly trying to better herself. Sadly, because she is just an object to her husband, she goes to great lengths to become an object of his affection. The way that Mr and Mrs Faust chose to live their lives has caused Mrs Faust’s relationship with herself to disappear and her feeling that she is just an object to be magnified. She has become detached from feelings and has ultimately let go of her soul in order to fit the lifestyle that she lives. Mrs Faust goes on to change her physical appearance: “Had a facelift, /had my breasts enlarged, /my buttocks tightened” (Duffy 76-78).  Mrs Faust is altering her body to become more of the “perfect human” that so many women strive for. Nonetheless, she is doing this because she feels like nothing more than a material object that has to be refurbished. The changes however, do not stop there. Mrs Faust “Went blonde, /redhead, brunette, /went native, ape, /berserk, bananas”(Duffy 84-87). What is striking about these four lines is not only the change in hair color but also rather how they end. The word choice of Duffy is particularly interesting. The words “berserk” and “bananas” do not have the best connotation. When thinking of why Duffy chose these particular words, one can’t help but wonder if she was trying to tell the reader something. That all Mrs Faust has been through, plastic surgeries to hair color changes, has had a deeper impact on Mrs Faust. She is being driven crazy because of the constant need to be better. 

In close reading “Mrs Faust” we start to really understand the consequences of living a materialistic lifestyle. Something as precious as a human with a soul and emotions gets turned into a lifeless object. Mrs Faust did not really live a life, but rather was just an object in someone else’s existence. The material wealth did not make her happy nor did she have someone who made her happy. To Faust, she was another one of his toys, in the collection of boats, homes, and degrees. She did not matter on an emotional level to the one to whom she was supposed to mean the most. With out this love, unfortunately, Mrs Faust believed that she was just an object in Faust’s life. Faust has transformed Mrs Faust into an object of his material wealth. He has made her think less of herself and believe that she is nothing more than another one of his objects. Duffy shows how damaging Faust is in the relationship with his wife. Duffy is also showing how, when you live a life full of materialistic wealth, everything around you has the ability to turn into a material object, even people. The emotion and soul is taken out of the person, and they grow “to love lifestyle, not the life” (Duffy 19-20). 
