"Pilate's Wife" was originally published in Carol Ann Duffy's 1999 collection The World's Wife. This book consists of poems written from the perspective of various overlooked women in history and myth. In the case of this poem, Duffy adopts the voice of the wife of Pontius Pilate, the first-century Roman governor of Judea best known for judging the trial of Jesus. Duffy bases the poem on a single incident described in the biblical Book of Matthew. In the story, the wife of Pontius Pilate has a prophetic dream, which compels her to write a note telling her husband not to execute Jesus.
By delving into this story, expanding upon it, and retelling it from the perspective of an unnamed woman, Duffy raises questions about the agency of women both in ancient times and in modernity. She imagines her speaker's marriage as a miserable one, emphasizing the disempowerment and struggle that this speaker faces because of her gender. She also critiques the brutality created and sanctioned by bystanders, including not only Pilate himself but also the crowd that encourages and cheers executions.
This work consists of six quatrains, each of them written in free verse. The lack of a persistent meter and rhyme scheme, combined with simple diction and vivid imagery, creates a mood of intimacy and informality. This aids the poem in overcoming potentially intimidating or overfamiliar source material, making its content feel fresh and immediate.
