Compare the ways in which three poets explore the nature of rejected and isolated individuals.

Bryony Hughes 11 RSW English Homework Compare the ways in which three poets explore the nature of rejected and isolated individuals. 'Education for Leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy. This powerful poem explores the mind of a disturbed person, who is planning murder. We do not know if the speaker is male or female, though this barely seems to matter. What we do know is that he (or she) has a powerful sense of his own importance, and a greater sense of grievance that no one else notices him. The poem contrasts the speaker's deluded belief in his own abilities with the real genius that is creative. We do not know if the poem is based on any real person. The Laboratory by Robert Browning has a similar subject - a person who kills (or is about to kill) her rival, in the presence of her lover, who appears to be connected to the speaker in some way, perhaps her husband or an ex-lover who has spurned her for the rival who is soon to die. It is in the form of a monologue, and once more the silent listener is important, too. He is an expert in poisons who sells his services to a wealthy woman. We do not know for certain that the speaker is female, but this is suggested by the things, listed in the fifth stanza, in which she will carry her poison ("...an earring, a casket/A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket..."), and by her offering a kiss to the poisoner, when he has finished his

  • Word count: 1007
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

I am going to analyse two poems: "Porphyria's Lover" and "The Laboratory." I will be explaining the outline of the poem, how the characters are presented and some comparisons between the two poems.

Discuss the ways in which Robert Browning presents his characters in these poems. I have read many poems but I had never read any of Robert Browning's poems until now. When I first read the poems, I was initially quite shocked at how powerful the language was and at how dramatic the poem was, but after they had been explained to me, I found I liked Browning's style of writing. He writes in a very different style, for example he uses a persona in his poems. A persona is where the character is not real, but is just made up. The story is then based around the persona. Browning uses a narrative voice, which is where the writer is not actually speaking but the character is. He used 1st Person Narrative throughout all of the poems we looked at. This means that "I" is used throughout the poem. His style of poetry is called "Dramatic Monologue." The poems I will be talking about are both Dramatic Monologues meaning they are long speeches with some sort of a drama in it. I am going to analyse two poems: "Porphyria's Lover" and "The Laboratory." I will be explaining the outline of the poem, how the characters are presented and some comparisons between the two poems. "Porphyria's Lover" This poem is about a man who is deeply in love with a woman. However, she does not live with the man, but she has a different life to him. The poem explains how she travels through the

  • Word count: 895
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing 'My Last Duchess' & 'Porphyria's Lover'Poetry Coursework

Comparing 'My Last Duchess' & 'Porphyria's Lover' Poetry Coursework By Louise Sophocleous Robert Browning was writing in the Victorian period and is known chiefly for his dramatic monologues which were poems with a specific protagonist speaking mostly to a specific auditor in a dramatic situation. These two poems are good examples of dramatic monologues whereby a setting is conveyed to make atmosphere. In my last Duchess a distinct sense of place and time helps to recreate the drama to make the audience feel more involved in the poem. However Porphyria's lover is less distinct. The details of time and place are vague and this helps to focus the readers mind on the drama of the action. In both poems a central character discusses the murder of their wife or lover. In the poems it is through their descriptions of this action that the characters are conveyed. In Porphyria's lover the mans character and presence appears concealed in a state of limbo until Porphyria arrives 'I listened with heart fit to break' this gives an impression that he is obsessive about Porphyria and has no control over his life. It is Porphyria's presence that lights up his life. It is she who murmurs 'how she loved me' in other words Porphyria appears to be the active partner. It is Porphyria who is making the choices. He sees himself when meeting with Porphyria as silent and passive. 'When no voice

  • Word count: 1578
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

My Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover.

Robert Browning Poetry Lee Taylor My Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover 'Discuss the male speakers attitudes to the women that they are remembering and how Browning uses language to convey these attitudes' Robert Browning was a poet who wrote poems between the Victorian period concerned with attitudes towards men and women and the way they were treated. Robert was an English poet born in London in 1882-1889 noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue. In his best works people from the past reveal their thoughts and lives as if speaking or thinking aloud. Robert Browning wrote about things the people in them days thought to be morally wrong like sex and violence. Robert aimed to question his readers emotionally and also question the readers morality. The poem 'My Last Duchess' was Published 1842 and the poem is based on the life of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara in the sixteenth century. The Dukes first wife died after three years of marriage. The poem is written in the form of the Duke addressing another Count to negotiate marriage terms and he tells the Count how he wants her to behave. The poem is about a painting of the Dukes previous wife and how she behaves. Both of these poems where written in 1942 and they were about death. The poem 'Porphyria's Lover' is about a man who lives in the countryside and is visited by his

  • Word count: 1521
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

In the Victorian age Robert Browning had a talent for creating poems. He writes a number of poems but two in particular 'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover' these are the two poems I will be comparing in my essay.

Pre Twentieth Century Poster Essay In the Victorian age Robert Browning had a talent for creating poems. He writes a number of poems but two in particular 'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover' these are the two poems I will be comparing in my essay. In the two poems there is a lot of 'dramatic monologue' where the writer is showing his personal his personal feelings in the poem. It is also classified when a single person is talking and asking questions with no reply like in 'The Last Duchess' the Duke is talking to the servant about his past wife but all the servant is interested in is whether the Duke will marry the Count's daughter. My Last Duchess is about a duke who wants to marry the Count's daughter. The Count does not know the duke very much this is why he sends his servant round to visit the Duke and his property. When the poem starts the servant is already at the Duke's house. The Duke very kindly welcomes the servant into his house. He starts off by showing the servant a picture of his previous wife. The Duke then asked 'Will't please you sit and look at her?' as if he was very proud of her. Fra Pandolf was the painter of his late wife and in the painting the duke realised she was blushing. The Duke had now gone from being proud and protective of her to being nasty and abusive towards her because he found out that Fra Pandolf, the painter, was flirting to

  • Word count: 659
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

How do the poems "Havisham", "The Sisters" and "Porphyria's Lover" present the theme of madness?

How do the poems 'Havisham', 'The Sisters' and 'Porphyria's Lover' present the theme of madness? 'Havisham' by Carol Anne Duffy, 'The Sisters' by Alfred Lord Tennyson and 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning, are all studies of madness. Within each poem the main theme is presented in different ways such as using dramatic monologue, free verse and satire. Through examining poetic techniques and devices closely, I will identify the ways in which madness is portrayed in these poems. Carol Anne Duffy's 'Havisham', published in the late 20th century, is based on the novel 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. In the book, the character Havisham is percieved as a mentally strong person, who would never want to show any type of weakness. However, Duffy takes a satirical approach towards Havisham's character. She twists Havisham and makes her reveal the weakness and anger in her 'heart that breaks', 'I stabbed'. Havisham is shown to be mad and obsessed with her tragic past 'not a day since then I haven't wished him dead' as her life seems to have stopped at the time she was jilted on her wedding day 'the dress yellowing'. She has never stepped outside her house since, which also stopped in time like the rest of the things in her life, 'I stabbed at a wedding cake'. Everything is in the same place as it was at twenty to nine, the time Havisham was jilted. This reveals her

  • Word count: 3495
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparison of ‘My Last Duchess’ with ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, by Robert Browning.

Comparison of 'My Last Duchess' with 'Porphyria's Lover', by Robert Browning. Both these poems were written in the mid-1800s, by Robert Browning, and are examples of his earlier works. He was one of the pioneers of the dramatic monologue form, which is used in both the poems. Browning described the dramatic monologue form as "Action in character, rather than character in action." He means that the personality and thoughts of the character are revealed in the poem, and it is not centered on their actions. The form allows the poet to hide behind a fictitious first person speaker. In these poems, the persona reveals aspects of his life through suggested and hidden narrative, rather than directly spoken. 'Porphyria's lover' is the monologue of a man, in love with a woman named Porphyria. The man knows he cannot keep Porphyria for ever, and so takes drastic steps in order for Porphyria to always be his. 'My Last Duchess' is a monologue by a 16th century Italian Renaissance Duke, showing the emissary of a count around his court, and subtly conveying the emissary a warning about his previous duchess. The two speakers that Browning uses, the Duke, and Porphyria's lover, are distinctly different. Browning accentuates this difference with the settings of the poems. The lover lives in a seemingly small cottage, with a 'cheerless grate'. The setting is not described extensively, apart

  • Word count: 1321
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Write about and compare the jealous Duke in Browning's 'My Last Duchess' and the female killer in 'The Laboratory'. Then compare 'Education for Leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy with Armitage's 'Hitcher'

Write about and compare the jealous Duke in Browning's 'My Last Duchess' and the female killer in 'The Laboratory'. Then compare 'Education for Leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy with Armitage's 'Hitcher' Browning's poems 'My Last Duchess' and 'The Laboratory' both deal with jealous killers. I will examine the characters in both of these poems and note the similarities and differences between them. Duffy's 'Education for Leisure' and Armitage's 'Hitcher' both have people who are driven to kill because of boredom. I will also look closely at both of these poems and compare them. This makes and assumption that Frà Pandolf compliments "called that spot of joy". He is irritated about the fact the she is pleases with everything that "She had a heart - how shall I say? - too soon made glad, too easily impressed." He disapproves of how she ranked everything equally, "Sir 'twas all one! My favour at her breast, the dropping of daylight in the west, the bough of cherries some officious fool broke in the orchard for her, the white mule she rode with around the terrace." You could not distinguish if she was pleased with one thing more than another. He expects her to be more grateful with his gift rather than nature's gifts. He has a strong dislike for the men who flirted with her, he refers to one of them as an 'officious fool' He is particularly annoyed that she was equally

  • Word count: 1155
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Is it possible to sympathise in any way with the villains in the two dramatic monologues by Browning that you have read?

Amelia Horgan Poetry English Coursework Is it possible to sympathise in any way with the villains in the two dramatic monologues by Browning that you have read? In both "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" Browning criticises the position of women in Victorian society by showing the relationship between men and women through two dramatic monologues. In both of the poems the men appear to be the villains, in "Porphyria's Lover" Porphyria is killed by the man who she has run through the rain to seen. In "My Last Duchess" although it is unclear if the Duke had the Duchess killed or just sent to a convent, there is quite clearly something going on with the Duke saying "I gave commands/Then all smiles stopped together". The Duke and Porphyria's certainly do not appear to be anything but villains but perhaps there is a little more to both characters. Although the characters may not be as simple as being just villains, it is very hard to feel much sympathy for them. They are both jealous and controlling, especially the Duke who even has to have control of the picture of the Duchess - "None puts by/ the curtain I have drawn for, but I". Porphyria's Lover is even more jealous and kills Porphyria so that she could belong only to him "That moment she was mine, mine", with the repetition of mine emphasising the jealousy and selfishness of the character. The Duke and

  • Word count: 1458
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

RENAISSANCE IN BROWNING'S POETRY

In what way is the Renaissance temper reflected in Browning's poetry ? It was Ruskin who declared that Browning was a poet reflecting the Middle Ages. However, other critics have refuted this statement and offered conclusive evidence to support the contention that Browning's poetry reflected dominantly the ethos of the Italian Renaissance. Indeed, the major poems of Browning catch unerringly the spirit of the Italian Renaissance with its curious blend of soaring idealism and the4 depths of materialism, the demanding desires of the flesh and the elevating flights of the mind. The Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural movement which spread over Western Europe in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. As its name suggests, the movement marked the rebirth or revival of interest in the classical culture and traditions of ancient Greece and Rome which had been neglected since the break up of the Roman Empire Empire in the fifth century. The revival of interest in the classical works changes men's outlook. The Middle Ages was dominated by monastic ideals and the firm conviction that the earth was a place of sin and the desires of the flesh a degrading necessity. The Renaissance freed men's from the hold of ascetic ideals, asserted the supremacy of reason, and induced men to take an artistic delight in the beauties of the world and the delights of the senses. But we

  • Word count: 1197
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay