the laboratory, hitcher and education for leisure presents the theme of crime
Using 'The laboratory', 'Education for Leisure' and 'hitcher', write about the theme of crime. In the poems 'The laboratory', 'Education for Leisure' and 'Hitcher' the theme of crime is presented through the use of dramatic persona's being criminals for various reasons. In the poem 'The lab', Browning uses a dramatic persona, which seems to be a potential murderer that is cruel and calculating. The evidence for this is in the line: 'While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear... I am here' This also presents the driving power of revenge anger. The poem is written in first person to involve the reader by creating a sense that it's suppose to be spoken to them. It also shows that the poem is written in present tense creating a sense of immediacy. The repetition of the word "laugh" shows the writers enthusiasm towards the reader's perception of the speaker as emotionally distraught. The poem 'Education for leisure' also used a dramatic persona. This appears to be a murderer: 'Today I am going to kill something' This demonstrates that the poem is written in present tense to give it a sense of danger, because crime could occur at any given moment. Similarly, in the poem 'Hitcher', a dramatic persons is used to convey a criminal that appears to have taken his anger out on a hitchhiker: 'I let him have it' The use of first person involves the reader creating the
Perspectives On Women In Browning's Poetry.
Perspectives On Women In Browning's Poetry One of the recurring themes in the poetry of Robert Browning, is that of woman, and it is this that I have chosen to focus on. In The first of the poems I have chosen to look at, Porphyria's Lover, Browning initially portrays the female character as the one with the power, although this in inevitably removed from her. In the opening lines of the poem: 'The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake' we gain a sense of forboding as the landscape of the poem seems to reflect the state of mind of the narrator, this is further explored in the next two lines where the speaker describes the weather as spiteful. All the narrator can do at this point in the poem is listen to the weather outside and he is completely helpless. 'I listened with heart fit to break.' However when Porphyria enters the poem, she alters the circumstances by replacing cold with warmth and seems completely unaffected by the weather even though it is she who has been out in it. 'And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up and all the cottage warm' Porphyria's actions at this point in the poem seem effortless in direct contrast to the impotence of her lover. Porphyria continues to take charge at this point in the poem by removing the evidence of the wet, cold weather outside, and even when her lover is unresponsive she manipulates the
Compare and contrast Robert Browning's dramatic monologues 'My Last Duchess and 'Porphyria's Lover', by examining the way that the characters speaking in each poem are revealed
Compare and contrast Robert Browning's dramatic monologues 'My Last Duchess and 'Porphyria's Lover', by examining the way that the characters speaking in each poem are revealed. Browning was writing at a time in the early Victorian Era, (around six years before Victoria came to the thrown) when most poets were moving away from traditional Georgian styles of writing and more into the recognisably modern literature. This allowed Browning and other such poets to take advantage of the new revolutionary alterations in the format of literature and break off from the more common plots and typical features present in poetry prior to Brownings era. At the time of Brownings writing, the moral stance of the populous, driven by the leaders of the time was tightening and the public in general public were becoming more serious. Responding to this narrowing of views, Browning wanted to shock the audience. Browning took most of the inspiration for his poems from discoveries and ideas developed in the Renaissance period (meaning rebirth) which spanned 1450-1600 AD. This period was characterized by the influence of an optimistic forward-thinking approach to the potential of humans, which in turn encouraged knowledge of the arts, languages, and a generally broad and active education. This led to a great spirit of confidence and the urge to explore the potential that language, literature, and
Browning's philosophy of life.
Browning's philosophy of life Browning was primarily a thinker, and would not have understood Keat's prayer for "a world of sensation rather than of thought." He "chose poetry" because he felt his thought was valuable, requisite to be given to the world, and given more arrestingly in verse, for which he know he had a very unusual gift. A large portion of his poetry consists of his reflections, sometimes bare and bald, sometimes buried beneath masses of verbal debris, more often clothed in his own individual kind of rich and varied verse. Browning's religion is inextricably bound up with his philosophy of life. His philosophy is no set professional synthesis, but the immediate product of a series of recurrent insights into life. His poems are his philosophy. He is one of those great poets who have given a concrete synthesis of life, a creative and constructive line of thinking and above all a deep and profound philosophy of life grounded in optimism and faith. In estimating Browning's philosophy of life one is to bear in mind that he treated certain elements as axiomatic. He harbored no doubts about certain of his philosophical conceptions and took them for granted. He was not prepared to enter into any arguments about the veracity of certain of his philosophical thoughts and ideas. Browning takes for granted the existence and supremacy of God as the creator and the sole
How does Robert Browning use the dramatic monologue to portray madness in his poems
How does Robert Browning use the dramatic monologue to portray madness in his poems "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover"? A dramatic monologue is when a character in a piece of writing speaks their thoughts and feelings out loud. It is used because it gives an insight into the persons mind. Browning chose this form for the two poems because it makes the poem feel more realistic and you know everything the character is feeling it also subconsciously makes the reader feel certain emotions towards particular characters. The poems reflect the Victorian mind by talking about madness. During the Victorian era madness was considered taboo- respectable people did not speak of it whether in public or in private, but thought about them all the same. Victorians had to repress sexual emotions as it was considered to be highly disrespectful to yourself. Victorians loved to read and as it was wrong for them to talk about madness, sex and violence, they would read about it instead, this was a way of liberating the repressed emotions. Victorians were allowed to read about the subjects because it is not them who is in the wrong it is the characters in the story. The same applies to writing about taboo subjects - if you made out that it is somebody else doing it then it is acceptable. Browning's readers would have been most interested in the violence and madness in these poems, as
Consider how two poets use their craft to create a powerful narrative.
Consider how two poets use their craft to create a powerful narrative Different poets have very indivudalistic ways and ideas on how to create powerful and bold narratives. It is what distinguishes the two poets I will be assesing. These poets are, Robert Browning who wrote Poerphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess, and John Keats who wrote La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Both John Keats and Robert Browning are very talented and created hier poems with thought and skill and in this essay I will be exploring their poetic minds and the techniques that are used. In Porphyrias Lover Robert Browning sets the mood straight away from the fist stanza: "The sullen wind was soon to wake, It tore the elm tops down for spite," Robert Browning uses pasonification to give the wind a character, in this case violent/angry, this helps to set the atomospheric mood of the poem which Robert Brwoning obviously wants the reader to notice from the very start. Browning also uses another technique in his poem to enhance the words, which he thinks that plays a vital role in this poem. "Made my heart swell..." "But passion would sometimes prevail" He uses alliterationn to emphasize the obsession that the killer has on Poprhyria. This technique is used in a lot of poems and is very clever, the reason why is because when you read the words that are alliterated it makes them stand out subliminally without
Pre 20th Century Poetry (pre 1900/1914) Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.
GCSE English: Pre 20th Century Poetry (pre 1900/1914) Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning In the following I will be discussing how Robert Browning's Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess suit the genre of dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is basically a poem in which a single speaker who is not the poet utters the entire poem at a critical moment. The speaker usually has a listener within the poem, but we too are his/her listener, and we learn about the speaker's character from what the speaker says. In fact, the speaker may reveal unintentionally certain aspects of his/her character. Robert Browning has perfected this form. While reading "Porphyria's Lover" the main theme's that stood out most in the poem was love and possession. Also, an important part of this theme was the effects love might have on people such as fear, joy, pride, vanity and obsession as demonstrated by the speaker. Robert Browning uses elements of poetry such as the speaker, rhyme scheme, and rhythm to accentuate the theme in the poem. While reading "My Last Duchess" the main theme that stood out most was possession. The first sentence tells us that the painting is of his former wife who is now deceased. The sense of possession and control over the poem is extremely prominent in the first few lines. The person he is talking to is either not given the chance to speak or is
Analyzing 'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover'
'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover' 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'My Last Duchess' are both dramatic monologues written by Robert Barrett Browning. 'Porphyria's Lover' is one long stanza, written in a conversational style and there is no direct listener where as 'My Last Duchess' consists of 28 rhymed couplets, is written in iambic pentameter and there are a direct listener. 'Porphyria's Lover' is Browning's first short dramatic monologue. The subject of 'Porphyria's Lover' is obsessive love. Porphyria's Lover gets so obsessed with her that he kills her to make him his forever. Alternatively the subject of 'My Last Duchess' is obsessive love. The Duke wanted the Duchess to be his and more like an object than a person. The rhythm in 'Porphyria's Lover' is ababb however in 'My Last Duchess' it is abab. 'Porphyria's Lover' tells the story of a man who obsesses over his lover (Porphyria) who is of a higher class than him. Eventually this leads to him killing her to make her his forever. "And, stooping", this is ambiguous and could mean that she is stooping to someone of a lower class or that she is physically stooping to his level. This along with "glided in Porphyria" indicates that Porphyria is from a higher class than her lover. Porphyria is also a married woman. "From pride, and vainer ties dissever" this reveals that Porphyria is tied to another relationship and is
Critical appreciation of Robert Browning poems.
Harpal Bal 11G1 GCSE Literature Coursework Pre- 1900 Poetry With close reference to the text, Write a detailed Critical appreciation of Robert Browning pomes. "My Last Duchess and Porphoryia's Lover" Robert Browning was one of the great poets of the Victorian age. He was on born 7th May 1812 in Camberwell and he died on the 2nd December 1889. Robert Browning got secretly married to Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and went on to live in Italy. Browning became an admirer of Elizabeth's Barrett's poetry in 1844. He began corresponding with her by letter. This was the start of one of the world's most famous romances. Their courtship lasted until 1846 when they were married. The couple moved to Italy that same year. Robert Browning did not become recognized as a poet, until after Elizabeth's death in 1861. After which, he was honoured for the rest of his life as a literary figure. Although Robert Browning wrote in many poetic forms, his most successful was the dramatic monologue. In his monologues, he spoke in the voice of an imaginary or historical character. Most of his monologues portray people at dramatic moments in their lives. In the Victorian age, love marriages were very rare. The daughters had to obey their parents. If a couple were madly in love they had to resort to eloping A monologue is defined as a poem in which a single character is speaking to a person(s) -
Compare and contrast the two Poems By Robert Browning - 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'My Last Duchess'
Compare and contrast the two Poems By Robert Browning The two poems that I will compare and contrast are 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'My Last Duchess' I will try to show how Robert Browning has presented the main relationships and I will give an opinion to which poem I prefer and why. Firstly the poems studied are both dramatic monologues which is a poem in which a single speaker such as a narrator in a book tells the entire poem which is often a critical moment. The poem 'My Last Duchess' is set in northern Italy and the speaker is an Italian duke, the Duke of Ferrara who ordered his wife, or the last duchess, as we know to be murdered. When Fra Pandolf was painting her portrait he offered many complements about the duchess and the duke was jealous about this because he thought that he owned the duchess, and could do whatever he wanted with her so to stop any more comments of this nature. I believe the duchess to have been a lively person who easily got along with anyone and befriended anyone but the duke doesn't like the duchess taking to any other male so he ordered the murder because he wanted her all to himself but the duchess being a lively person didn't stop talking to people so he was envious of them. The duke is arrogant and has been making arrangements with the envoy of the Count of Tyrol whose daughter he intends to marry but we find out that the envoy will warn