'My Last Duchess' is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning, using the view point of a seemingly deranged man with unhealthy obsessions. It uses first person to engage the reader more and lure them into the mind frame of a psychopath, and the continuous use of enjambment in one large verse.
The title 'My Last Duchess' insinuates dominance instantly; the use of the word 'my' to express possession over this woman. The title also shows how this man feels no emotion towards whatever has happened to this woman; he shall have another. The poem uses iambic pentameter although this is not obvious - with every second second word being stressed. This is unnatural and contributes to the feeling of something sinister. The narrator begins by pointing out the painting of his Last Duchess, for he writes 'That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive, I call that piece a wonder now.' The tone is calm, leaving no room for emotion. Rhyming couplets are used throughout, which contradicts the poem itself, as they connote romance and love - we discover later that this is quite different. There is no stanza, no break, which may be representative of what the man has done and shows how he will repeat his actions, without stopping to think about what he is doing.
The use of imagery is quite extravagant - as this man was married to a Duchess you think of royalty, colours of gold and red. This is reinforced by his archaic language, he is obviously well educated and influential (which he later denies in a bid of modesty). Examples of this include: 'She had a heart - how shall I say?- too soon made glad, too easily impressed; she liked whate'er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere.'
The narrator also uses a series of rhetorical questions - 'How shall I say? Too soon made glad,', 'Who'd stoop to blame this sort of trifling?', 'Will't you please rise?' they need not be answered by his company as he is not inviting him to speak, it seems he is too encompassed by the sound of his own voice. This reinforces his own pretentiousness and arrogance.
There is never any evidence throughout the poem that his Duchess did anything wrong, just that she was a generally happy individual. However the narrator seems to show no remorse for this, just smug that now he can control who looks at her and who she looks at by pulling back the curtain, which symbolizes his eternal control over her.
Sunday 30 September 2012
Thursday 20 September 2012
Review of 'Porphyria's Lover'.
The poem begins with some imagery, creating a picture in the reader's head of a dark and gloomy night. We get this from the sentence 'The rain set early in to-night, the sullen wind was soon awake', the words 'rain' and 'sullen' having negative connotations, such as darkness. Browning also personifies the wind, saying that it was 'soon awake', making it seem more dangerous. He continues this as he writes, 'It tore the elm trees down for spite, and did it's worst to vex the lake', accentuating the cruelty of the wind and how dismal it is outside. It can be described as a love poem, as Browning uses rhyming couplets throughout. Instead of using iambic pentameter like most Shakespeare poems, which are widely associated with love, it uses iambic tetrameter, consisting of four iambic feet. This is especially effective at it already creates the idea that it is not an ordinary, typical love story.
When he describes the arrival of Porphyria, he says she glides into the cottage, which gives an element of beauty and makes her seem almost angelic, enforcing a religious aspect in the poem. This continues throughout further description of her; Browning writes, 'Which done, she rose,' which prompts the idea that she is angelic, as she does not just get up, she rises. Browning creates the impression that Porphyria is willing to give herself to the narrator, the man in the poem, in the way he illustrates the removal of her things - 'Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, and laid her soil'd gloves by, untied her hat and let her damp hair fall.' The use of the words 'withdrew', 'laid', and 'untied', creates the image that she does so gently, lovingly, for him and for him only, with insinuates love more than passion.
Browning also begins to portray how perhaps this woman has a form of dominance over this man, a sense of control - 'She put my arm about her waist, and made her smooth white shoulder bare' - this also reinforces the idea of an angel, as biblical people are often carved out of white stone, into a smooth and beautiful creation, and it gives the idea that she is making herself available for him, when she wishes to, not when he desires her. He also says, 'And stooping, made my cheek lie there', which suggests how he does not do this out of will.
Even so, there is then a narrative shift from her being dominant and assertive, as Browning writes, 'Murmuring how she loved me -she too weak, for all her hearts endeavour, to set it's stuggling passion free,' - this recreates her image into a feeble, fragile being, too drained to convey her adoration for this one man. However we then get an insight into the feelings of the narrator, the way he feels about Porphyria, and we begin to see how he may want to preserve this woman, to keep her his eternally. We recognise this when Browning writes, 'At last I knew Porphyria worshipp'd me; surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew while I debated what to do. That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good.' This exaggerates his own love for Porphyria, clearly wanting to own her, perhaps as she seemed to own him. To regain his dominance. It also explains how perhaps Porphyria had only ever given herself to him, nobody else had touched her, thus the use of 'perfectly good and pure', which also emphasizes the religious apsect of the poem, as angels are wholesome.
The feelings of the narrator towards Porphyria are heightened in the next line, 'I found a thing to do, and all her hair in one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain.' This urges many questions as to why he would want to murder her, which we can only assume is because it is the only way she can be rightfully his forever, or it may even be more morbid than this; it is the only way he can have full control over her. Perhaps he did not like the power she had over him, the power of an angelic figure.
We understand he is not guilty for what he has done, as Browning describes how he opened her lids to see her blue eyes once again, and a guilty person would never want to look their victim in the eyes to see their wrong doing stare back at them. The use of alliteration in the sentence, 'Blush'd bright beneath my burning kiss,' is effective as it acts almost as a lullaby - you can almost imagine this man voicing these words, as they roll off the tongue so effortlessly and so flawlessly.
When he describes the arrival of Porphyria, he says she glides into the cottage, which gives an element of beauty and makes her seem almost angelic, enforcing a religious aspect in the poem. This continues throughout further description of her; Browning writes, 'Which done, she rose,' which prompts the idea that she is angelic, as she does not just get up, she rises. Browning creates the impression that Porphyria is willing to give herself to the narrator, the man in the poem, in the way he illustrates the removal of her things - 'Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, and laid her soil'd gloves by, untied her hat and let her damp hair fall.' The use of the words 'withdrew', 'laid', and 'untied', creates the image that she does so gently, lovingly, for him and for him only, with insinuates love more than passion.
Browning also begins to portray how perhaps this woman has a form of dominance over this man, a sense of control - 'She put my arm about her waist, and made her smooth white shoulder bare' - this also reinforces the idea of an angel, as biblical people are often carved out of white stone, into a smooth and beautiful creation, and it gives the idea that she is making herself available for him, when she wishes to, not when he desires her. He also says, 'And stooping, made my cheek lie there', which suggests how he does not do this out of will.
Even so, there is then a narrative shift from her being dominant and assertive, as Browning writes, 'Murmuring how she loved me -she too weak, for all her hearts endeavour, to set it's stuggling passion free,' - this recreates her image into a feeble, fragile being, too drained to convey her adoration for this one man. However we then get an insight into the feelings of the narrator, the way he feels about Porphyria, and we begin to see how he may want to preserve this woman, to keep her his eternally. We recognise this when Browning writes, 'At last I knew Porphyria worshipp'd me; surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew while I debated what to do. That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good.' This exaggerates his own love for Porphyria, clearly wanting to own her, perhaps as she seemed to own him. To regain his dominance. It also explains how perhaps Porphyria had only ever given herself to him, nobody else had touched her, thus the use of 'perfectly good and pure', which also emphasizes the religious apsect of the poem, as angels are wholesome.
The feelings of the narrator towards Porphyria are heightened in the next line, 'I found a thing to do, and all her hair in one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain.' This urges many questions as to why he would want to murder her, which we can only assume is because it is the only way she can be rightfully his forever, or it may even be more morbid than this; it is the only way he can have full control over her. Perhaps he did not like the power she had over him, the power of an angelic figure.
We understand he is not guilty for what he has done, as Browning describes how he opened her lids to see her blue eyes once again, and a guilty person would never want to look their victim in the eyes to see their wrong doing stare back at them. The use of alliteration in the sentence, 'Blush'd bright beneath my burning kiss,' is effective as it acts almost as a lullaby - you can almost imagine this man voicing these words, as they roll off the tongue so effortlessly and so flawlessly.
Friday 14 September 2012
A short description of The Common, part of my Language homework.
The leaves of the trees are fully
flourished, hues of jade and viridian, nature in all its glory. The
sun is gentle in its afternoon magnificence, the grass soft beneath
your feet. Few people remain, to bask in the beauty of a mid summers
day, so it is peaceful, picturesque, tranquil. The pool, cerulean,
still and untouched, and it is only the occasional stronger gust of
wind that disturbs it. Like a butterfly; serene until we should make
our presence apparent.
The park is empty, for children now sit
with their mothers and fathers, they too silently enjoying the
harmony, being at one with the world. The atmosphere is a deer, that
coincides naturally with everything else, living happily
in her own company; it is a dove, breathing amity where ever it fly.
The warm air laps at the cheeks of every happy being sharing the
peace, almost cosy, like home.
Wednesday 12 September 2012
'When I Woke Up' Review
'When I woke up, the knife was still there.'
Immediately the feeling of something quite sinister is conveyed. This is because of the use of the dramatically short sentence which conveniently echoes throughout the mind as we try to understand what may have happened leading up to the placement of the said knife.
I instantly assume that something dark has taken place, as in my opinion the connotations of a knife are usually linked to knife crime and murder. The sentence is very effective as it does not give a time scale, maybe the person fell asleep during the night, in the morning, and maybe he slept for a long time or hardly any time at all. I think it does not specify a certain time as it adds to the confusion and mystery of the story, and also urges the reader to contemplate this for themselves. It is also strange as the sentence does not specify a gender of the person, but I presume it is a man. This may because of men being more associated with knife crime. The use of first person draws the reader in, as using 'I' makes it much more personal for the reader, as if they are living out the story themselves, whereas using third person is less subjective and therefore does not entice the reader to such an extent. Despite my first thoughts of the knife being linked to murder, there are other perspectives you could take when reading this story. For example, the nature of this could be completely innocent. Perhaps someone forgot to put the knife away, whilst cleaning up, or it could be that the person in the story is in fact a victim of crime. It could be a kidnapping, and he may be relieved the knife remains there, in that spot, as it means he is still alive. Or, to take another view on it, it may be based on a suicidal nature.
Just from a story as short as this, because of the narrative it prompts the mind to ask questions as it leaves much to be desired. There is a basis for a beginning, middle and an end, which is not distinctive but evidently there. This is because the tension increases. The beginning of the story starts with the person waking up, and then his attention turns to the knife, which is the middle, and he realises it's still there - the end. It also acts as a build up to the climax of the story, the realisation that in fact the knife is still in that one place. The sentence only uses one syllable words which creates more dramatic tension than it would if it was written as 'When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the knife was still there.' It isn't as intense because the one word syllables are like a beating drum, one beat after another, building up to something bigger.
Immediately the feeling of something quite sinister is conveyed. This is because of the use of the dramatically short sentence which conveniently echoes throughout the mind as we try to understand what may have happened leading up to the placement of the said knife.
I instantly assume that something dark has taken place, as in my opinion the connotations of a knife are usually linked to knife crime and murder. The sentence is very effective as it does not give a time scale, maybe the person fell asleep during the night, in the morning, and maybe he slept for a long time or hardly any time at all. I think it does not specify a certain time as it adds to the confusion and mystery of the story, and also urges the reader to contemplate this for themselves. It is also strange as the sentence does not specify a gender of the person, but I presume it is a man. This may because of men being more associated with knife crime. The use of first person draws the reader in, as using 'I' makes it much more personal for the reader, as if they are living out the story themselves, whereas using third person is less subjective and therefore does not entice the reader to such an extent. Despite my first thoughts of the knife being linked to murder, there are other perspectives you could take when reading this story. For example, the nature of this could be completely innocent. Perhaps someone forgot to put the knife away, whilst cleaning up, or it could be that the person in the story is in fact a victim of crime. It could be a kidnapping, and he may be relieved the knife remains there, in that spot, as it means he is still alive. Or, to take another view on it, it may be based on a suicidal nature.
Just from a story as short as this, because of the narrative it prompts the mind to ask questions as it leaves much to be desired. There is a basis for a beginning, middle and an end, which is not distinctive but evidently there. This is because the tension increases. The beginning of the story starts with the person waking up, and then his attention turns to the knife, which is the middle, and he realises it's still there - the end. It also acts as a build up to the climax of the story, the realisation that in fact the knife is still in that one place. The sentence only uses one syllable words which creates more dramatic tension than it would if it was written as 'When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the knife was still there.' It isn't as intense because the one word syllables are like a beating drum, one beat after another, building up to something bigger.
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