The Devil’s Wife

Themes/ideas

Self-obsession, manipulation, naivety, deception, responsibility – all linked to the most significant
theme – the nature of evil.

Title

“The Devil’s Wife” - ‘Devil’ has connotations of evil. The fact that Hindley is connected to the devil
encourages us to see her as evil, too. However, the use of the word, ‘wife’, brings to mind someone
who is powerless, subordinate to Brady. From the very start of the poem, Hindley tries to extricate
herself from responsibility.

“Dirt”

“In his car he put two fags in his mouth and lit them both” – this brings to mind the image of fangs
and vampires. If Brady is the vampire, then Hindley seems to be suggesting that she has been
seduced by him and he is the real source of evil. This idea is reinforced by the short, simple
sentence, “He entered me”. There is an obvious, sexual, meaning but also the idea of possession, of
someone taking over your mind, your body, your soul. She is telling us that Brady was in control.

“We drove to the woods and he made me bury a doll.” – this metaphor is another attempt by
Hindley to pass the blame and avoid taking any responsibility for her actions. This is suggested by the
use of the word ‘made’, implying she was forced to follow Brady’s orders against her will.
Furthermore, the comparison of her victims to a ‘doll’, would suggest Hindley’s lack of empathy –
they were simple playthings to be used and abused in this folie a deux. The metaphor also implies
the youth and innocence of the children, but this is something we cannot imagine Hindley
considering, given her total devotion to Brady.

We have to question Hindley’s later appeals to be released from prison because it is clear that she
recognised Brady’s negative qualities from the very beginning. She was attracted to him in spite of
and, perhaps, because of the fact that he was ‘sarcastic and rude’ and recognises those same
qualities in herself. It gives the reader the impression that she has more control over her actions
than her pleading would suggest. She was well aware of Brady’s evil – instead of sympathising with
her, we despise her all the more.

Structure

Duffy, in this section, presents us with Hindley’s reflections that, on the surface, seem to suggest
that she, too, was a victim of Brady’s evil and that she was coerced into compliance. But the
structure gives a clue as to why we should distrust these reflections – 3 stanzas of 6 lines each give
us the number of the anti-Christ (666). This exploitation of structure undermines Hindley’s attempts
to avoid responsibility and, instead, suggests that she is every bit as devilish as her partner in crime.

“Medusa”

Medusa was one of three sisters, cursed by the gods. Initially beautiful, Medusa was either raped or
seduced by Poseidon in the temple of Athena (virgin goddess). Athena believed this was a
desecration of her temple and so she turned Medusa into a monster with snakes for hair and a stare
that would turn hearts to stone. Medusa’s blood was said to have one vein that had healing
properties and another that was lethal. The title of this section is appropriate since it suggest that
Hindley, too, has the power to heal or harm. Here, Duffy subtly hints that Hindley knows more than
she is willing to tell and has the knowledge that will help the families of the victims move on from
their loss. However, she also highlights her evil nature – Hindley does not confess and instead
focuses her attention on trying to make us feel sorry for her.

This idea is further reinforced by Hindley’s revelation that she was “locked up; double locked”.
Literally, this line refers to Hindley’s jail term. However, the words “double-locked” seems to
represent not only the length of her jail sentence but, more significantly, it indicates to the reader
that she has memories locked up – things she knows but won’t tell.

Duffy also uses repetition of the pronoun “I”. This helps to emphasise Hindley’s self-obsession/self-
pity while, at the same time, drawing attention to her lack of sympathy. This lack of sympathy is
most cleverly shown when she tells us, “I was left to rot”. Here, Duffy has Hindley compared herself
to a decomposing body, while her victims lie rotting in their secret graves, clearly highlighting that
she feels no sympathy, remorse or guilt.

She further attempts to gain our sympathy by telling us, “I howled in my cell”. While we might
assume that her cries show remorse or guilt, it is more likely that this animalistic sound hints at the
wildness and savagery of her character.

“Bible”

In this section, Hindley pleads, “No not me I didn’t I couldn’t I wouldn’t”. This lack of punctuation
seems to suggest that Hindley is suffering some kind of breakdown/madness and, by extension, this
would indicate that she had changed. Hindley’s supposedly reformed character is further suggested
by the title, “Bible”, which represents Hindley’s religious conversion. However, there are clues that
reveal a more complex character.

Firstly, this section’s structure seems to suggest that there is method behind her apparent madness.
It is in sonnet form – 14 lines with a rhyming couplet at the end. Sonnets are used to express strong
emotions – usually love. In this case, that love is self-love – she only cares about herself.

Her manipulative nature is further reinforced when she pleads “send me a lawyer a vicar a priest”.
The order of this list seems to suggest that Hindley only turned to religion when all her legal options
were worn out. This leads us to doubt that Hindley is a reformed character with Christian beliefs.

“Night”

The structure of this section further continues Hindley’s deviousness. It is written in the form of a
prayer, ending with the words, “Amen”. On first reading, this would suggest that Hindley is a
reformed Christian. However, we again begin to doubt this as Duffy has Hindley reveal that she is
terrified of what the public think of her. She tells us, “These are the words that crawl out of the
wall: suffer. Monster. Burn in Hell”. The short sentences suggest that these are the insults that
stand out to her the most. However, Hindley isn’t tortured by the memories of what she did to the
children; she’s tortured by the public’s opinion of her. These are not the thought and feelings of a
true Christian.

“Appeal”

Our dislike for this woman continues right to the end of the poem. In “Appeal”, ironically, Hindley
appeals for her life to end, rather than to be saved. The repetition of “if”, attached to ten different
methods of execution seems to suggest a sense of regret but, although these deaths are brutal, they
are all relatively quick – we dislike Hindley for wanting to take an easy way out. She ends the appeal
with, “If life means life means life means life”. The repetition of “life” emphasises the length of time
and torture for Hindley. Time seems to be passing slowly. For the reader, though, this is the most
effective punishment as it forces her to face up to her crimes and society’s demonisation of her.
Finally, if we had been fooled into believing that Hindley was finally experiencing a sense of regret
for her action, then the final line would surely prove us wrong when she again refers to herself as
“the Devil’s Wife”. This ends the poem with a re-confirmation that Hindley still believes that she was
merely Brady’s minion, rather than a serial killer in her own right.