Female Rage: Taylor’s “mad woman” Meaning, Explained

Taylor Swift’s mad woman is a powerful reflection on female rage: how its perceived, how its provoked, and what happens to women who show their anger.

She’s written about the patriarchy in the past, but in mad woman, she lets her “hysteria” flag fly, tying the historic trope into her modern-day world.

What do the lyrics mean, where has she drawn inspiration from, and who is Taylor really writing about?

Here’s my full English teacher analysis of Taylor’s mad woman meaning, line by line.

mad woman by Taylor Swift

• Title: Mad Woman
• Written by: Aaron Dessner, Taylor Swift
• Track: 12, Folklore
• Pen: Fountain
• Lyrics from Genius

mad woman Narrative Summary

• Setting: Inside “female rage.” 
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor, or another protagonist), subject (male offender, “you”)
• Mood: Scathing, rageful, vengeful. 
• Conflict: The male subject did awful things to the female narrator. 
• Inciting Incident: He said something, to which she responds, “what did you think I’d say to that?” 
• Quest: Display the truth for all to see: she’s not crazy, she’s been manipulated. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: “mad woman,” scorpion, “ my face in the neighbor’s lawn,” “crazy,” “angry,” poking the bear, “noose”, “breathe flames,” “cannons firing at your yacht,” “hunting witches,” dirty work, “wanting me dead,” “watching you climb over people like me,” “master of spin,” “good wives.” 
• Theme: Female “hysteria”
• Imagery: “Does a scorpion sting when fighting back,” “Do you see my face in the neighbor’s lawn,” “poke that bear ’til her claws come out,” “find something to wrap your noose around.” 
• Lesson: Women aren’t crazy if we fight back. 

What is mad woman About? 

mad woman is about the demonization of women at the hands of men. In Taylor’s song, it may be one specific man, but it also offers commentary on the patriarchy as a whole. 

It alludes to the historic “hysteria” myth, where women were painted to be crazy if they were an inconvenience. 

In the Folklore Long Pond Studio Sessions, Taylor said:

“The most rage-provoking element of being a female is the gaslighting that happens when, you know, for centuries we’ve just been expected to absorb male behavior….and oftentimes when we…respond to bad male behavior…that response is treated like the offense itself.” 

She elaborated on the possible subject of the song:

“There’s been situations recently with someone who’s very guilty of this in my life, and it’s a person who makes me feel – or tries to make me feel – like I’m the offender by having any kind of defense to his offenses. It’s like, ‘Oh I have absolutely no right to respond,’ or ‘I’m crazy,’ I have no right to respond or I’m ‘angry’. I have no right to respond or I’m ‘out of line’.” 

This is the message she tries to get across in mad woman: women have a right to respond and go on the offensive, and that doesn’t make us ‘angry’, or ‘crazy’: it makes us human. 

Who is mad woman About? 

Fans speculate that this song is about Taylor’s feelings toward her ex-manager, Scott Borchetta, or her arch-nemesis who purchased her masters, Scooter Braun. 

In 2019, Taylor wasn’t given the opportunity to purchase her masters from Borchetta (of Big Machine Records, her first label) and they were quietly sold to Braun. 

This is what led Taylor to re-record all of her albums, reclaiming her catalog and her name. 

But in the larger scope, mad woman is really about Taylor herself, and all women who are made to feel crazy at the hands of the patriarchy.

mad woman Meaning: Line by Line

The first verse starts “in medias res” – in the middle of the action. We’re plopped into the middle of an argument with: “What did you think I’d say to that?” 

The subject has said something offensive, and Taylor is put on the defensive. 

“Does a scorpion sting when fighting back?” she asks. This references the old animal fable of the scorpion and the frog. 

In that piece of folklore, a scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid the scorpion will sting him, but is assured that they’d both die if that happened. The frog hesitantly agrees, and in the middle of the river, the scorpion stings him and says, ‘sorry, it’s just in my nature.’ 

The scorpion (a metaphor for Taylor), will always fight back. “They strike to kill,” she says, “and you know I will.” When threatened, Taylor will strike back just like the scorpion. It’s in her ‘nature’. 

“What do you sing on your drive home?” Taylor asks him, alluding that her music is likely playing in his car. Is he ironically singing Look What You Made Me Do , This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, or my tears ricochet? He can’t escape her when her music is all over the radio.

“Do you see my face in the neighbor’s lawn?” she asks. “Does she smile?” she asks of the hallucination of her face on the lawn, “Or does she mouth, ‘Fuck you forever’?” 

This imagery and metaphor is Taylor haunting the subject for what he’s done to her, like in my tears ricochet. He’ll see her face everywhere, and it won’t be a pleasant hallucination. 

This is Taylor’s first recorded use of “fuck” in her lyrics, which is important. 

Firstly, it symbolizes her persona as the “good christian country girl” has ended. Secondly, it’s a powerful word, and she’s saved using it until now. 

Whatever this person did is worth dropping the f-bomb for, for the first time.  

Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “What a Shame She Went Mad”

The pre-chorus narrates the historical misconception of female hysteria. Beginning in the 19th century, women could be diagnosed with the generalized condition of “hysteria” if they displayed so much as anxiety. Some were locked away in mental institutions for simply being themselves. 

But the diagnosis and imprisonment was actually what turned them insane. This is what Taylor alludes to when she says: “Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy.” It’s the labeling that causes the symptoms. 

“What about that?” she says. It was him that did it, not her. 

“And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry,” she says. She’s allowed to be angry and have a normal response. But when he points out her anger, it turns from a normal amount of female rage to an extraordinary amount. 

He’s gaslighting and manipulating her, which is – ironically – the thing that actually makes her crazy. 

“And there’s nothing like a mad woman,” she says, “what a shame she went mad.” These lyrics allude to the “mad woman in the attic” trope of 19th century literature. 

Popularized by the character of Bertha Mason in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, this became a common literary character. A woman is locked away for being “mad,” when really, she is the truth-teller: she will reveal the other character’s secrets if allowed in public. 

But because they’re labeled as “mad,” no one would believe them if they did tell the truth. “What a shame she went mad” is commonly how other characters refer to the imprisoned woman, with a sigh and a shrug. 

“No one likes a mad woman” changes the meaning from “crazy” to “angry.” Women are not allowed to show anger, lest we be labeled “crazy.” 

But “you made her like that” means the man is the one who turned her anger into full-blown madness. It wasn’t innately within her: he caused it. 

“And you’ll poke that bear ’til her claws come out,” Taylor says, using the colloquial phrase ‘poke the bear.’ To ‘poke the bear’ is to provoke someone more powerful than you in order to intentionally get a reaction. 

Here, the bear is Taylor, and the “claws” are the female rage she keeps tucked inside her fingers, ready to strike. 

“And you find something to wrap your noose around” alludes to historic witch hunts, in which women were hanged (or burned at the stake) if suspected of being too powerful. This man is trying to kill the powerful being (Taylor), and after he’s done with her, he’ll move on to other women. 

“And there’s nothing like a mad woman,” she repeats. There’s nothing like the power of an angry woman. As the Shakespearean saying goes, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

🩶 Can you pass my tricky folklore Lyrics Quiz? 🩶

Verse 2: “Women Like Hunting Witches Too”

“Now I breathe flames each time I talk” describes Taylor as a fire-breathing dragon, another common historical description of an angry woman. 

“My cannons all firin’ at your yacht” means she wants to take down his wealth and power. But it also references My Tears Ricochet, in which Taylor says: “the battleships will sink beneath the waves / You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same.” She’s still at war in this song; it’s not over yet. 

“They say, ‘Move on,’ but you know I won’t” means that she will never forgive or forget. This wound was so deep, that she will never be able to let it go. And he knows her, and knows it’s not in her nature (like the scorpion) to let things go. 

“And women like hunting witches too” alludes to a female counterpart to this male offender, “doing  your dirtiest work for you.” There’s a woman helping him to take down Taylor. 

“It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together,” she says. The subject and his female cohort have bonded over their hatred of Taylor. What are they plotting? 

This also alludes to her “death” in my tears ricochet (“if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake”). Was there a second person at the wake? A woman? 

Bridge: “You Made Her Like That”

In the bridge, Taylor begins calculating her revenge: “I’m taking my time,” she says. 

This will be strategic, and when she strikes back, he’ll know it. “‘Cause you took everything from me,” Taylor says. She’ll take everything from him. She just needs a plan. Until then, she sits back and watches. 

“Watching you climb over people like me” is a bit unclear. Does he climb over other women, or over other musical artists? Whatever the case, he does this to other people, too. 

But then she loads a small piece of ammunition and takes a shot: “The master of spin has a couple side flings.” She has knowledge of his extra-marital affairs, and she’s just published it for the world to see. 

“Good wives always know,” she says slyly. His wife will soon find out, if she doesn’t know already. 

“She would be mad,” Taylor says about his wife, “she should be scathing like me, but no one likes a mad woman.” 

The wife will need to play this cool and calculated (like Taylor) if she wants to get her due. She’ll need to keep her rage inside until the right moment. It’s all about perception, and playing a strategic game of chess. 

“What a shame she went mad,” Taylor repeats, “you made her like that.” He’s the one who drove his wife insane, and he’s the one who made Taylor insane. 

Like Dr Frankenstein, he’s created monsters, and is then surprised when they try to retaliate. His creations have backfired. 

Now they’re both “mad women”, and like the scorpion, they’ll strike to kill when threatened. 

Maybe they’re just waiting until they’re in the middle of the metaphorical river, for mutually-assured destruction. 

🩶 Can you pass my tricky folklore Lyrics Quiz? 🩶

mad woman Meaning: Final Thoughts 

Taylor has written extensively about female rage and herself as the “madwoman” before, in songs like Blank Space, Look What You Made Me Do, The Man, and even The Last Great American Dynasty. 

The difference here is that she’s finally free to express her anger blatantly, and it comes out in the lyrics.

When she was with Big Machine, her music and lyrics were heavily controlled and edited. At that point in time, she was their ‘prize cow’, and her image was carefully calculated by men in power.

But at the point of folklore, the old label (controlling man in charge) is gone. But she knows his secrets, and he’ll try to paint her as the “mad woman in the attic,” trying to discredit her. She’s not letting that happen.

She’s pointing out that her anger is not only justified, but that she – and all women – are allowed to be angry without being labeled as “crazy.” She is not the “mad woman in the attic”: she’s the truth-teller, and the bear with claws.

There’s a certain freedom in pointing out the double standard, and it makes us realize that she’s been angry all along at her treatment in the industry. But now, like poking the bear, she holds the power to lash out and maim anyone who provokes her. 

They tried to lock her away, but the “mad woman in the attic” has escaped her chains. She’s running on the loose, and will spill the truth to the entire world.

More Songs From folklore: 

• folklore Prologue
• the 1
• cardigan
• the last great american dynasty
• exile
• my tears ricochet
• mirrorball
• seven
• august
• this is me trying
• illicit affairs 
• invisible string
• epiphany
• betty
• peace
• hoax
• the lakes