Discuss one of Robert Browning's better known poems, "My Last Duchess."
In this essay, I would like to discuss one of Robert Browning's better known poems, "My Last Duchess." While some readers may be put off by Browning's language which now seems archaic, his poem is every bit as relevant today as when he wrote it almost two hundred years ago. It is as relevant in the twenty first century as it was in the sixteenth century which serves as the setting for the poet's history lesson. The poem focuses on a sixteenth century Italian duke who is regaling his guest with tales of his deceased wife from which the poem's title is derived. The Duke's guest is the envoy of a count whose daughter the Duke intends to make his next duchess. The poem takes the form of a dramatic monologue. Browning was one of the pioneers of the dramatic monologue in which a speaker's character is revealed to an implied audience through his words alone. Through his speech, the Duke is revealed to be a villain lacking remorse who ordered the murder of his former wife because she did not live up to his expectations. That he can allude to his wife's murder with impunity is testimony to the power held by such despots. Of course, he would not be beyond the reach of the law should he confess to the Count's envoy, which explains why the Duke speaks in ambiguities. As the poem begins, the Duke is discussing a portrait of the deceased Duchess with the Count's envoy who is invited to
Paradise Lost. The epic features of the writing get in the way of Milton's story. Discuss.
Sofia Thuru The epic features of the writing get in the way of Milton's vivid and dramatic story. Milton wrote his epic poem "Paradise Lost" taking deliberately inspiration from the epic poems of Virgyl and Homer. As such, it has distingushable features of the epic genre, such as epic similes, an encyclopaedic scope and the characteristic use of blank verse as opposed to rhyming. These may lead critics to consider Milton's work as having too many digressions from the main plot (a common fault of its Greek counterparts) and as being not very innovative. On the contrary, this essay will argue that Milton's decision to approach such an old literary tradition by renewing it according to his contemporary religious and political ideas was extremely bold and, indeed, innovative. Milton's subject-matter and poetic style are also extremely universal, and yet, they take nothing away from the dramatic story within the poem. As any respectable epic poem, 'Paradise Lost' follows certain conventions, such as having a wealthy amount of information about subjects as varied as religion, politics, astronomy and human psychology. The way this is usually done is through extensive lists and catalogs. Another, much more creative and engaging, way of doing it is through the use of epic similes. For instance, Milton compares the surface of hell to a volcanic landscape, with "liquid fire" and
The Friar Portrait
The Friar Portrait The Friar Portrait Chaucer's portrait of the Friar as one of a self indulgent man who commits various sins and applies his entire existence to the pursuit of attaining profit. Not only does it describe his morally corrupt nature but also the Friars lack of commitment to the principles of his profession. He is a "wantowne" which means that the Friar is sociable. However, the word also implies that he may be a wanton which would portray him as sexually promiscuous. These are not characteristics that befit a religious man as he is mean to be simplistic and his main aim in life should be to preach rather than socialise or be sexually promiscuous. He is a "limitour" which means that he is licensed to beg within a certain area. Chaucer uses irony as he states that the Friar is a "ful solempne man" which implies that the Friar is a most impressive man. The irony of this comes out in the next lines as Chaucer states that while hearing confessions the Friar gave the best pardon to those who contributed the maximum amount of money. This indicates the Friars concern for profit and shows his moral corruptness as he uses his status in society to receive benefits rather than doing his actual job which is to preach and to be faithful and follow the Catholic religion. Instead the Friar uses religion for personal gains and is actually unreligious as he commits such sin.
Compare and Contrast three of the “Best Words” poems on love relationships. Examine the natures of the relationships conveyed and the ways in which the poets present them. Which of the poems most interests you? (provide your reason).
Compare and Contrast three of the "Best Words" poems on love relationships. Examine the natures of the relationships conveyed and the ways in which the poets present them. Which of the poems most interests you? (provide your reason). The three poems that I have chosen to examine are: 'Ballad', which is anonymous, 'Shall I Compare Thee...' by William Shakespeare and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' by John Keats. The three poems have both their similarities and their contrasts, which makes them a good selection to study. The first and most obvious contrast, and reason for contrast between the three pieces is the time they were written- with the Ballad being anonymous, we cannot say when it was written, but the other two were written a couple of centuries apart. 'Shall I Compare Thee...' during either the sixteenth or seventeenth century and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' in the nineteenth. This gap, in the times they were written, means that some of the language used in the poems is different, both from each other and from language spoken now. A further reason for the contrast in language used is the audiences they were written for. The Ballad was passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, and would have most likely been told in inns and taverns. 'Shall I Compare Thee...', being written by William Shakespeare was aimed at people who attended the theatre. This ranged
How does the poet convey his admiration for the young man's beauty in sonnets 7 and 19? Collectively, the first section of Shakespeare's sonnets tends to primarily
How does the poet convey his admiration for the young man's beauty in sonnets 7 and 19? Collectively, the first section of Shakespeare's sonnets tends to primarily consist of similar themes and ideas. The three key themes are time, love and poetry, together allowing the power of the poet's feelings towards the young man to be illustrated. One way, possibly one of the most effective techniques Shakespeare uses to do this, is by using the young man's beauty. Sonnet 7 is largely made up of an extended metaphor. Shakespeare compares human life to the daily journey of the sun, from sunrise to sunset. The sun's rising in the morning symbolizes the young man's youthful years. Just as the rest of the world watch the "sacred majesty" of the ever-heightening sun, this is how the poet views the young man, showing how in awe of the young man the he is. The sun's highest point in the sky resembles "strong youth in his middle age", however, after the sun reaches its peak, it has to descend. This downward movement represents "feeble age" in the youth. This stage in life is not only when beauty begins to fade, but when the people who looked with admiration at the youth's beauty will "look another way" when he has become old. Where is says "Unlook'd on diest" it is saying, in death, he will not be remembered. Then, as seen in some of the previous sonnets, the Shakespeare argues that the
Compare and contrast Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 with Benjamin Zephanaiah’s “Miss World”
Compare and contrast Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 with Benjamin Zephanaiah's "Miss World" Both poets discuss the treatment of women within their world. In each case, they indicate their disgust with the way men behave. Shakespeare's sonnet offers a mocking tone to the courtly gentlemen of his day whilst Zephanaiah's tone is more angry. Shakespeare writes to a strict ABAB rhyming pattern within the fourteen line sonnet structure. Benjamin Zephanaiah however does not stick to any sort of standard rhyming pattern and the poem is not written in a regular western structure, more so in a reggae rhythm. The effect Shakespeare obtains from this structure is one of a mordant tone. The audience of the time would have expected a poem of love like Bartholomew Griffin's "Fiddesa". The audience expects "My mistress' eyes" to be described as on a level with the warm brightness of the sun, and are stunned to read "nothing like the sun". This evidently gives an image of Shakespeare mocking Griffin and other poets that wrote love poems at the time. I think that Zephanaiah, however, is not writing in a regular western structure and rhythm because he wants to break convention. His poem is deeply rhythmic but he clearly avoids using Eurocentric rhyming patterns and structures. This encapsulates an angry atmosphere to the poem. The reggae rhythm is often used to attack western culture. The
To what extent is Paradise Lost a gothic text?
Paradise lost-Gothic definitions. If taken at face value, John Milton's poem seems have the purpose of showing religious enlightenment. Milton states in the opening lines, his poem is inspired by a muse and that it attempts to soar above the Aeonian Mount. The references to aeonian mount, that the poem will spiritually "soars beyond" that of the Greek mythology and thus he will show that Christianity is the true religion; The notion that, Milton is a devout Christian trying to give a religious account is emphasised through references to religious places such as "on the secret top of Oreb and Sinai didst inspire the Shepard". This is not only because it seems to imitate the bible but also could be interpreted as Milton suggesting he is being inspired like the Shepard. Milton ends the first verse by stating he will "justify the ways of god to men", again implying the poem will be giving almost a religious insight. On the other hand, the text could be interpreted as being a gothic text and in fact, whilst Milton states he is justifying the ways of god to men, could be said to be concerned with justifying the ways of men, and to a degree Satan. If this is the case, then the poem becomes could be called gothic as becomes interested in characters who have been outcast, and their emotions and motivations. This meets two definitions of the gothic which are "the gothic is
From reading of Paradise Lost(TM) book IX how has Milton portrayed the relationship between Adam and Eve?
From reading of 'Paradise Lost' book IX how has Milton portrayed the relationship between Adam and Eve? What appear to be Milton's main concerns-regarding gender issues? Adam and Eve's relationship is not portrayed as smoothly as some people may have pre-empted. Milton is keen to show the reality of life in his writing of 'Paradise Lost', this is achieved by the disagreement between the couple in book IX. During this period Milton also deals with many social concerns about gender that may have been raised at this period. The relationship between Adam and Eve has been portrayed in a far from perfect way. Some would say that Milton is a Misogynist and tends to personify Eve as a weaker woman character: "Sole Eve, associate sole, to me beyond Compare above all living creatures dear.." This language used by Milton whilst talking to Eve could be seen as patronising and supporting the belief that Milton believes women to be inferior. This belief would be understandable at this time period because most 16th century poets believed women to be the inferior sex, such as Shakespeare's Katherina in 'The taming of the Shrew'. However, Milton's use of language here could simply portray the amount of care and love Adam holds for Eve. This love and care that Adam expresses for Eve is portrayed throughout the poem by Milton. Although Adam disagrees with Eve in her decision to work
Original Writing Poetry: The Woeful Plight of Writing a Sonnet
The Woeful Plight of Writing a Sonnet Writing a poem, that's fourteen lines long Each with ten syllables (pentameter) The lines did not rhyme and it all went wrong It's still pretty bad, but a lot neater. I searched for some help, but didn't get much The paper's all gone from my writing pad My head has gone numb; it's all double-dutch This poems so bad, I think I'll go mad. I hope this will do, I hope it will pass I don't think I could, another one, write 'cause they're so hard, and a pain in the ass I really do hope, that this is alright. Although it's not bad, as I thought before I hope, I don't have to write many
Beowulf risks his life for his people a number of times. One of the warriors risks his life for Beowulf, his leader, in the act of loyalty. This all shows the blending of Christian traditions in the epic, Beowulf.
Shpendi Jashari Beowulf "Alone shall fight for me, struggle for life against the monster, God must decide who will be given to death's cold grip. Grendel's plan, I think, will be what it has been before, to invade this hall and gorge his belly with our bodies." (Lines 268-273) This quote was said by Beowulf a little while before he fought Grendal. This quote shows that Beowulf is ready to risk his life to save his people from a monster that has killed many people. He does this throughout this epic; fighting battles with different monsters that put his people's lives in danger. Also during some of the fights he has faith in God and he believes that God will be there to help him when he needs it. Beowulf is a blending of Christian traditions and beliefs such as loyalty and faith during a time when your life is in great danger like death. Grendal was an evil creature that killed many people in the Herot when darkness fell. Everyone was scared of him and no one was able to kill him, until Beowulf came. He knew of the dangers of Grendal and he knew of the people killed by this evil creature. He was ready to put his life at great risk by fighting this creature so no more people will be killed and that the people would not be scared of him anymore. "...Now he discovered once the afflicter of men, tormentor of their days what it meant to feud with God: Grendal saw that
