Carol Ann Duffy’s portrayal of a murderer’s thought process in “Education for Leisure” points simultaneously to several problems. One of these, straightforwardly, is the issue of senseless violence and the figure of the serial killer. At the same time, Duffy also subtly criticizes the media ecosystem that would sensationalize and even glamorize murderers. Writing during a period in which the phenomenon of the serial killer was rapidly becoming a topic of public fascination, Duffy suggests that the promise of infamy may be exactly what drives some individuals to violence. Moreover, her poem suggests, sensational portrayals may do the public a disservice by failing to view evil acts through a realistic or nuanced lens.
In another poem, “In Mrs. Tilscher’s Class,” Duffy references the famous “Moors Murders,” an infamous event in post-war Britain in which a couple killed a series of children. The decades following the Second World War saw the rise and apprehension of a number of famous serial killers, including John Wayne Gacy and Jeffery Dahmer. These figures were objects of fear—in many ways outsize fear, given that most violent crime occurs not between strangers but between people who know one another. This is true even in the U.S. and the U.K., the two countries that have produced the highest numbers of serial killers. As journalist Julie Beck writes, “If you were to carefully calibrate your fear of being murdered according to statistics, you should be 12 times as afraid of your family members as of serial killers.” In other words, Duffy’s poem focuses on a very rare phenomenon, while at the same time analyzing a topic of dominant and growing public interest.
Despite the rarity of the serial killer as an actual phenomenon, some of these individuals have become household names, inspiring not only fear but also fascination. In this way, Duffy’s portrayal of a killer motivated by a desire for fame was as prescient as it was disturbing. Many scholars argue that a blend of news media and true crime entertainment has contributed to a moral panic over serial killers, elevating some members of a very small group to the status of celebrity. As evidence, criminologists point to news stories that delve into the motives of murderers with dramatic but simplistic language like “monster” or “devil.” This figure of the “monster” in true crime writing as well as the news has, some scholars argue, been used to justify an oppressive criminal justice system.
Meanwhile, the figure of the serial killer has been subject to a variety of stereotypes, which experts speculate are rooted in broader issues of gender, race, and policing. For instance, while the demographic divides among American serial killers roughly reflect the overall makeup of the country as a whole, the most famous cases have fit a specific profile: white and male, with female victims. Experts note that women who commit such crimes tend to do so in less sensational or cinematic ways, perhaps leading them to become less well-known. Moreover, statistically, these murderers tend to victimize individuals of their own race. Scholars have argued that white victims receive more media attention than black ones, with the result that white perpetrators also receive more interest. Moreover, experts note that an unequal allocation of resources along racial and class lines results in a greater number of white perpetrators being found and convicted.
By engaging with the figure of the serial killer, Carol Ann Duffy engages with a range of cultural questions surrounding this archetype. These range from the very nature of good and evil—especially the question of whether evil is innate—to the role of media in discussing and valorizing violence. Duffy wrote the poem in 1985, following several decades in which the serial killer became an object of widespread fascination. Yet true crime media, from podcasts to documentaries, has seen a renaissance during the 2010s and 2020s, letting us know that Duffy’s topic is as relevant as ever.
