Reading Journal

Act 3-5

• Hero and Ursula are discussing Benedick's love for Beatrice whilst Beatrice is hiding and eavesdropping
• Don John and Don Pedro telling Claudio of Hero's supposed 'disloyalty'. 
• Dogberry is introduced - we begin to understand he is not wise 
• Watchmen hear Borachio and Conrade talking of the scheme, they are arrested
• Dogberry tries to tell Leonato what the watchmen have told him but because he is dim doesn't actually tell him anything
• Claudio humiliates Hero in front of entire church 
• Why does Claudio do this? Perhaps he does it out of blind fury, because he truly loves her, he is too distraught to function properly. Perhaps he doesn't love her at all, and wishes to regain his title as a vigilant hero in front of his companions. 
• Why doesn't Hero defend herself? Perhaps she feels her voice will not be heard; she has a group of men talking at her, telling her she has done what she is being accused of. Perhaps it is to do with her status in the play; not a significantly strong character
• Why does Leonato feel such sudden resentment toward his daughter? E.g - 'Death is the fairest cover for her shame', 'Do not live, Hero, do not open thine eyes'. Perhaps this is shameful to his name, an embarrassment.
• Why do the other characters seem so set on Beatrice and Benedick falling in love? Perhaps to relieve stress from the war, it shows mockery of Benedick and Beatrice; they are so sure they hate each other but now they are being proved wrong.
• Why does no one ask Hero where she was the night she is being accused of cheating? Perhaps because she is a woman, her voice is invaluable

Reading Journal

How is comedy constructed in Much Ado About Nothing and how are the serious elements emerging?
Act 1-2

• The use of sarcasm and satire between Beatrice and Benedick
• Use of schemes between Claudio and the Prince to get Hero - immaturity
• Serious elements such as the past between Beatrice and Benedick - a deeper undertone is beginning to emerge through Beatrice in act 2 scene 2 but again through the use of comedy
• Sincerity portrayed through the use of Don John's character - why is he so bitter and uptight? He says, 'I'd rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his [Don Pedro's] grace' - cutting off his nose to spite his face - perhaps Don John is jealous of his illegitimate brother, as he will never be as important regardless of his current status?
• How does the romance develop between characters such as Hero and Claudio and Beatrice and Benedick?
• How does authority develop?
• Will Don John change his ways further in the play?
• Why do the characters mask themselves and put on a front? What do they have to hide?
• Why is it called Much Ado About Nothing when clearly it is about something?
• Do we really understand the characters?
• Use of dramatic irony/confusion to generate humour
• Narrative - follows Propp's eight character types
• Narrative -binary oppositions e.g bad vs good- Don John vs rest of cast
•  How far will Don John go to cause disruption?
• Why is Beatrice so powerful, more powerful than Hero?
• Beatrice questions the typical role of women in those days - she is strong, independent, does not want a husband
• Perhaps Hero has more to offer later in the play
• Comical construction - use of sexual tension 
• Will Don John become romantically involved with anyone or is he too cold and mischievous?

Review of Fra Lippo Lippi

Write about the ways Browning tells the story in lines 191-269 of ‘Fra Lippo Lippi’.

               

Browning tells the story by using rhetorical questions that do not prompt an answer eg line 198, ‘Is this sense I ask?’ He already knows the answer and is very sure of himself. Another point is the repetitive use of enjambment and there are no stanzas as he is drunk and therefore rambling on and on. This gives the impression he has wanted to express his feelings for a very long time and now he is voicing everything at once. Dramatic punctuation is used such as ellipses and abrupt stops. This conveys his fluctuation in emotion, his state and level of inebriation and desperation to release everything he has bottled up. The tone of the poem is belligerent as he continuously addresses people as ‘you’ – telling people how they feel for example lines 261-264, ‘You tell too many lies and hurt yourself;/ You don’t like what you only like too much/ You do like what, if given you at your word/ You find abundantly detestable.’

He uses many discourse markers which makes the poem much more realistic, imitating real speech, e.g., line 196, ‘She’s just my niece… Herodias, I would say-/ Who went and danced and got men’s heads cut off!’ This is effective as his pauses insinuate contemplation and thought amidst his drunken state. Also, the metre is very unobvious however is iambic pentameter. He has used this because it is upbeat and is suitable for the poem, accentuating his intoxication and instability in emotion but still shows how he finds the situation humorous. He uses many personal pronouns to refer to himself and the Church, showing how close to home and important this is to him and his degree of irritation toward the Church – you may consider the entire poem to be a direct dig. Browning uses italics to show when Fra Lippo Lippi is singing, for example line 238 – ‘Flower o’ the pine, /You keep your mistr… manners, and I’ll stick to mine!’ which again reinforces his being under the influence, and may even suggest deeper emotion through song or how it is easier to lyrically explain his feelings.

The poem is in linear chronology, which shows how Fra Lippo Lippi is telling a story, his story, and all that brought him to where he is now. This is effective as we should expect a happy ending out of a story but actually the end is Fra bringing us up to date and we should never know the ending of his story.

In conclusion, Browning is wise in his use of linear chronology, iambic pentameter, punctuation, perspective and tone to convey the story of Fra Lippo Lippi and what he felt at that particular time. Through the use of such narrative devices we can understand the personality of this man and his deeper emotion toward the Church itself.

Review Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a poem by Robert Browning set in Hamelin's Town, Brunswick. The sub heading is 'A Child's Story', suggesting a fairy tale. He starts the first stanza using in media res, with no introduction offering a riveting beginning with only a setting, which leaves much to the readers contemplation. We also get the sense he is omniscient in this poem when he writes,

But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.

This is because he describes what is unknown to the readers as 'vermin', however he is already erudite in the story. The perspective is from the narrator recounting the tale, which gives the voice a sense of purpose; he is telling the story for a direct reason. The poem uses rhyming couplets and is in iambic pentameter which flows like a song, perhaps even the song to the Pied Piper's music, which may be why the sub heading is A Child's Story.

The poem being in linear chronology and using enjambment supports the story telling and fairy tale theme as we can understand that this is a story the narrator has told many times- again showing a clear sense of purpose being conveyed- as there is no sign of natural speech; there is a complete lack of discourse markers and it flows perfectly like a song, perhaps even the song to the Pied Piper's music.

The use of imagery is strong when the appearance of the Pied Piper is described, when Browning writes

His queer long coat from the heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red,
And he himself was tall and thin

The use of simple primary colours again appeals to children however the description creates the image of a jester like figure, who should he fail in making the King laugh would be at great risk. This is effective because in this poem it is the 'jester' who holds the upper hand, suggesting role reversal. Browning describes the Mayor in a negative way, which may actually be to insult the Council and those of high authority, for example on line 47:

With the corporation he sat,
Looking little though wondrous fat

and continues throughout the poem to insult the Mayor and council. This may be a comparison with the rats, who take all they please straight from the people - just like the Mayor and council in all their false glory and apparent fake power as they cannot resolve the rat invasion themselves. The poem becomes quite sinister when Browning describes the sounds of the rats-

You heard as if an army muttered;
And the muttering grew to a grumbling;
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling

You may say through the use of personification that again Browning proposes an analogy between the rats and the Council, showing how the cannot be trusted amongst their whisperings and lies. This becomes an extended metaphor

The children are described when the Pied Piper lures them into his musical trance after the Mayor lies to him, and the way they are portrayed provides a great contrast between them and the council:

Out the children came running,
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls

This is especially effective as it conveys them as almost angelic; showing how unfair it is that they should be taken as a consequence to the selfishness of the council and how conceited and pompous they truly are. The poem finalizes with the narrator talking to a boy called Willy, telling him of how If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise! Proving it serves as a cautionary tale and sending out a prominent message.

Confessions of a Drug Abuser

I am very nearly thirty now
I've been sat in this cold damp place
for hours, thinking of what could have been
had I not touched the powder
A year since my wife succumbed to the sweet lull of death
- Oh, how I wish I could join her.
What I would do to reverse the past
My children and I, together at last
There's nothing left but this bitter shell of a man
My life encompassed by my own selfishness
Waiting, wishing, wondering about what will be
...how cruel a life of misery.
My heart seldom beats much more,
for what is the point in life when you have nothing to live for?

'My Last Duchess' Review

'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.

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.