Category: Robert Browning

Studying Poetry and Drama

• Section 1) Robert Browning, Extract from ‘The Bishop Orders His Tomb’
• Section 2) ‘What’s it going to do to him working for a woman?’ (Top Girls). Analyse the presentation of patriarchal authority andor challenges to patriarchal authority in texts studied on the module.

1. Robert Browning, Extract from ‘The Bishop Orders His Tomb’

‘The Bishop Orders His Tomb’ by Robert Browning focuses on the deep-seated fears and lack of faith one of the church leaders has. On his death bed, instead of trusting in the ways of the church or being grateful, he had committed his life to serving God, this bishop is filled with sentiments of fear, petty materialism, lament, and even envy. ‘The Bishop Orders His Tomb’ is ironic in its intrinsic nature as a man whom, near all of his lifetime, was looked to as a devout religious authority figure, boasts his sins counting with an unusual candour for such actions; an affair and a his insurmountable adoration for vain material wealth. He thinks on the different conceivable outcomes of what should happen to him when he passes, but eventually appears persuaded that he will remain in his tomb for forever abandoning his Christian theology. Each conviction, feeling, and request that this bishop communicates uncovers that in his heart, he believes precisely the inverse of what he has instructed others on all through his lifetime.

In the opening of this segment of ‘The Bishop Orders His Tomb’ The Bishop then bemoans about lying in his grave ‘through centuries’ hearing ‘the blessed mumble of the mass’. He trusts he will in the slightest be able to ‘feel the steady candle flame’ and ‘taste’ the ‘incense smoke’. This proceeds to uncover the bishop’s lack of conviction in heaven as his pre-supposed next step.

In the following section the bishop starts by scrutinising what it feels like to be dying ‘by such slow degrees’. He at that point depicts his passing as he ‘fold[s] [his] arms’ and ‘stretch[es his] feet’ and permits the burial clothes to be laid over him. He talks much to the effect that in the event that he will still be cognizant of what is happening to him even in death. He goes on to portray ‘a certain humming in [his] ears’ and appears to accept that he will lie in his tomb forever. He addresses his child when he says that he will think of, ‘[his] tall pale mother with her talking eyes’. He’s having a mistress moreover negates his position as a leader in a Christian church. But this bishop, shows little interest in persuading his listeners of his Christian convictions or way of life, but or maybe on his deathbed talks of each and every activity and belief that contradicts the Christian way of life and philosophy.

In the final portion, the bishop tells his audience that in the event that if they still somehow adore him, they will do as he has requested of them, turning his tomb into a sceptical and an exceptional work of craftsmanship by which the world would never forget him or his newly tarnished legacy. He recognizes that his life has been brief and fiendish, when he says, ‘Evil and brief hath been my pilgrimage’. And at that, he proceeds to ask increasingly more blue gems to decorate the inside of his tomb. He wishes them to carve a vase full of grapes on the wall of his tomb. He gives additional instruction for what to etch on his tomb, particularly guideline, ‘And to the tripod ye would tie a lynx’.

‘That in his struggle throws the thyrsus down’ which proposes that there will be a complex work of art of the lynx, tied to a tripod and battling with a thyrsus. It is likely that these pictures speak to the struggle the bishop has felt in life. He tells his listeners that these works of art on his tomb would ‘comfort [him] on [his] entablature’ (tomb). In his tomb, he believes, he will lie and inquire himself, ‘Do I live? Am I dead?’

At this point, the hysteria sets in and the bishop starts to panic, crying out to God, nature, whomever there’s to cry out to, inquiring why he is destined to lay within the stone which can ‘crumble’ in a ‘clammy’ restricted tomb in which his exceptionally own cadaver will start to fall apart. The bishop can imagine people leaving him there in his tomb, and he can now not delight within the ‘lapis’ of the world, nor in any other excellence the earth has got to offer. He can envision his forerunner, Gandolf, laying within the tomb that the bishop had planned for himself. He envisions that Gandolf, in his tomb that the bishop had specifically requested for himself. This is uncovered within the final two lines of ‘The Minister Orders His Tomb’, in which the cleric says ‘Old Gandolf, at me, from his onion-stone, As still he envied me, so fair she [the bishop’s tomb] was!’

The aggregate of The Bishop Orders his Tomb is the regrets of a passing on church leader who does not truly accept in what he has been instructing his entire life. This can be inferred by his profound concern with the materialistic magnificence of his tomb and his ask to be buried with precious stones. His specifying of pagan gods at the side Jesus and Moses uncovers his endeavour to ‘cover his bases’ but too appears that he has no genuine confidence in what he has claimed to accept for his entire life. He does not conversate about his assembly his saviour or life after passing in heaven, but is or maybe concerned with the materialistic perspective of his tomb, his memory on earth, and the comfort of his cadaver. The Bishop Orders his Tomb is ironic in nature as this religious leader passes on with no confirmation of consolation in death or life after death, but or maybe with a feeling of articulate unimportance and a solid want to make a luxurious piece of craftsmanship out of his tomb in order to be recalled as else his actions in life shan’t.

2. ‘What’s it going to do to him working for a woman?’ (Top Girls).

Analyse the presentation of patriarchal authority andor challenges to patriarchal authority in texts studied on the module.Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls debuted in 1982 at the Royal Court and immediately got to be a classic with its tricky reflection of the early Thatcher period of elitist independent and its brilliant take on the classes, sex and inequality. The quote by Mrs Kidd is ‘What’s it going to do to him working for a woman?’ wholly encompasses a large portion of Churchill’s intentions for the play as a whole.

The central segment of Top Girls appears to present the agency’s workers meeting potential clients. These keen, nearly wince inducing precise scenes uncover that the ladies who have attained a position within the ‘new’ office culture of the 1980s have acquired a frame of sexist control that pales in comparison to the masculine values and shallow, misogynist judgements that came before. Judgements surrounding women’s marital status, parenthood, appearance and age have been retained by and are imitated by the modern era of women who are succeeding in a man’s world by re-enacting men’s prejudices. Life is still a every day scrape for survival let alone success, in which fantastic desires are subjected to trivial reasoning, inflexible hierarchies and out of line expectations.

In one of the interviewing scenes we experience Janine, who is entangled between desire, convention, sentimentalism and female obligation. She states, ‘I wanted to go to work’ and, ‘I want a change!I do want prospects. I want more money!.I’d like to travel.’ At the same time she apologizes for herself: ‘I expect it’s silly.’ But she is apologizing for needing what more than not what men have given to them: to be engaged but occasionally escape from London to travel for work and be free from family life. Just because it was for the historical characters, there’s a deep inner conflict about babies and parenthood during the 1980s scenes. There’s an unspoken presumption in all the interview scenes that parenthood terminates a woman’s career which women must take off work when they have babies.

Another interviewee, Louise, is told that her age – as it were 46 is in fact ‘a handicap’ which she ought to hope that ‘experience does count for something’. She isn’t empowered to endeavour to gain more than she already has; she ought to be grateful with her station and not supersede herself. Both she and Janine are unobtrusively constrained over their appearance and attire; the capitalist ‘modern’ world isn’t a meritocracy after all but a diversion in which ladies must see and in-act their role, techniques as objects in order to succeed.

In a very dreadful manner the play truly underpins the supposition of its most misogynistic characters: that ladies who succeed are monstrous, cold, unnatural, abnormally narrow minded and pathological. Marlene is nauseated by Joyce’s plain enduring and hopelessness and in refusal about her household’s mess she left behind. She calls Joyce’s theory surrounding babies simple ‘gynaecology’ and ‘messy conversation about blood’ as in case that she has retained a few Pope Joan-era medieval misogyny with respect to the rankness and corruption of the female body.

Top Girls conveys that one woman’s victory does not raise the destiny of all women; liquidity and status within the office don’t make the world close to even ground or alter the frameworks set in place to hinder change, reduce women’s emotional and sexual exploitation or resolve the problems they are in. ‘Nothing’s changed for most people, has it?’ says Joyce.

The play has moved from the luxurious, the celebratory and the universal to the tacky, the recriminatory, the obstinately neighbourhood. As Top Girls closes, the battle lines are created and they are lines of social class, un fair sex; culture, not just financial equivalents. Marlene and Joyce are candidly not sisters, not companions and not ideological partners. Marlene’s celebrated line, ‘I think the eighties are progressing to be stupendous’, which continuously gets a dim snicker, is less influencing presently than the lines that take after. Joyce inquires, ‘Who for?’ and Marlene says gaily, ‘For me’. For Joyce and Angie, there will be no Marlene like rise into a modern age of being truly ‘free in a free world.’ yet the very inverse: when Angie is more wise to due to her age, says Joyce presciently, history will rehash itself and ‘her children will say what a squandered life she had.’

This essay attempts to highlight the symbolic theme of anti-tyranny in Robert Browning’s selective poems by using symbols. This study sheds light on studying symbols as Browning’s indirect way of criticizing the Victorian Age by linking the meaning of the symbol to linguistics. This study clarifies that Browning, as being religious, patriot and human, is discontented with the material Victorian community that seems, externally, prosperous, but conceals, internally, the brutal visage of despotism, materialism, and tyranny. Browning selects his personas in “My Last Duchess” and “Fra Lippo Lippi” as Italian Renaissance characters, with a bit alters, to strengthen the likeness between the Victorian age and Renaissance Italy in respect to money love, exploitation, and tyranny. Browning is fed up with the stifling inhumane tyrannical Victorian atmosphere, trying to revive the Victorian people via the forum of poetry.

Robert Browning (1812-1889) is a famous English Victorian poet who was born in the London Suburb of Camber well. He grew up in a household of a bank-official modest father who had a six thousand-book library. Thus, Browning was self-educated at home, was married to Elizabeth Barrette who was more famous than her husband. The couple had a settled life in Florence, Italy where Browning wrote most of his works; “Sordello”, “Men and Women” (1855). Browning went back to London, after Elizabeth’s death, where he wrote his masterpiece “The Ring and The Book”).

Taking the Victorian social and historical milieu( 1832-1901), Browning was encircled by Victorian (1832-1901) problems such as the rise of Darwin’s ‘Theory of Evolution’ which refutes the old Christian faith, stating that man had not been created by God but by a process of development of certain substance. As well, the Victorian Age was the hey-day of Marxism which believes that there is no God and life is matters (Burgess 1987: 180). Besides, the bread price increased due to corn taxes; the immigration of two Irish millions to English cities, because of famine, who lived in bad conditions as poverty and sickness; women and children labor in factories for insufficient salaries along with the unhealthy atmosphere of those factories; and the workingmen were deprived of the vote and representation in the parliament.

Browning refuses the negative results of the spread of material values and consequently, Browning indirectly criticizes the materialism, tyranny, and loss of faith in the Victorian Age, in his specific selective poems, which lead to the loss of human value of the suppressed Victorian lays.

A Symbol is “an object that refers to something beyond itself and in this sense, all words can be symbols”. In other words, the symbol is the connotative or non-literal meaning that a word bears, for example, the word ‘chair’ has a fixed denotative or literal meaning, to be found in any English dictionary, that is an object made of wood, of four, or less, legs on which people can sit. However, the same word ‘ chair’ could refer to ‘authority’ or ‘power’ in a specific context, especially a literary one in which the writer uses the symbol to make his literary work different from everyday life language.

And the writer uses the symbol to write freely about certain issues that can’t be discussed directly due to social, religious or political restraints that may constitute a barrier to him/her. Thus, Browning’s following pieces of poetry are examples of Browning’s implicit criticism of the Victorian cruel Society via studying and analyzing the deep meaning of symbols in the previous poems.

Some literary theorists categorize the symbol into two groups, the “conventional” or “public” symbols as opposed to the “private” or “personal ones”. The word ‘raven’ is an example of the conventional conception of ‘bad omen’, while Blake’s, a romantic poet, ‘conception of child’s innocence’ is an instance of the personal symbols that alters due to context. Blake regards child’s innocence, in his poem “The Chimney Sweeper” taken from The Songs of Experience, as a negative way of the submission to the superstitions and constraints of the society that suppresses the free mentality. Unlikely, Blake, himself in ‘The Lamb’ taken from The Songs of Innocence considers the child’s innocence positively and he envies child because of the child’s possession of the divine vision. Hence, there are two different personal symbols of the same word ‘innocence’ of the same poet; the first meaning is simplicity or naïveté of thinking which Blake refuses, and the second meaning is simplicity as being uncorrupted by the social complicated rules which Blake approves.

In essence, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is a controversial poem by renowned Victorian-era Romantic-style poet Robert Browning, published in 1836. Being a dramatic monologue, it creates the persona of an unreliable narrator. Also a social criticism, it censures the blatant discrimination of women. Written for an audience which promoted a distinct patriarchy and deemed women inferior, women were expected to be obedient, employed exclusively in the domestic sphere, and fundamentally, property of husbands who expected them to be young and virgo intacta. Through the speaker, I will explore how men are represented in a negative light.

Firstly, men are presented as craving gratification from others. The speaker exclaims “I knew / Porphyria worshipped me”. Browning reveals the psychopathic nature of the speaker through the verb phrase “I knew”. This creates a tone of absolute certainty and unwavering conviction in his knowledge; almost as if he possessed control over Porphyria’s thoughts too. The use of the dynamic verb “worshipped” connotes the speaker was egotistical and self-absorbed, savouring in the satisfaction that others revered and respected him. The verb “worshipped” also connotes sacred and religious homage paid to a higher entity, suggesting the speaker thought of himself as a divine personage, perhaps imagining it to be honour for Porphyria to procure the chance to be his lover. This alludes to the chauvinistic values of the Victorian era, such as the negative notion of men deeming themselves superior to women, which were ubiquitous, socially acceptable and to a large extent, encouraged.

Moreover, men are presented as desperate for love from women. In “sullen wind” and “rain” pathetic fallacy is used to convey the speaker’s tempestuous mood, which is immediately juxtaposed with the use of personification and synaesthetic effect of Porphyria making the “cheerless grate / Blaze up”. The intransitive verb “blaze” depicts a flame, which signifies a burning passion, or danger, which foreshadows Porphyria’s impending doom. Yet, Porphyria’s unconditional love fails to satisfy the speaker, who demands her to “give herself to me forever”. The adverb “forever” indicates the speaker will be content only when he possesses her emotionally and physically, alluding to her murder and his negative proprietorial obsessions.

In addition, men are presented as possessive of women. The repetition and epizeuxis in “That moment she was mine, mine” of the personal pronoun “mine” is employed to subjugate and reduce Porphyria to nothing more than property. Perhaps, the Victorian proletariat who so blindly followed millenia-old gender conventions may have considered Porphyria’s mind, body, spirit and finances all to be legal chattels of the speaker. Had Porphyria survived, her greatest calling would include dutifully serving her husband and producing a male heir. Conversely, the gargantuan imbalance in power dynamics and gender roles would cast the speaker in a negative outlook in the perspective of a modern audience.

Furthermore, men are presented as megalomaniacs. The adverbial phrase “Only this time” in the speaker’s remark “Only, this time my shoulder bore / Her head” is utilized to demonstrate the symbolic shift of power from Porphyria to the speaker. He is initially passive and allows Porphyria to take control of his body, but realizing he cannot accept this, he reverses their positions in a cruel twist of fate; resorting to brute force to ensure he would forever overpower her. Porphyria’s last glimmer of independence and self-will is extinguished when her power-obsessed lover establishes totalitarian dominance over her. Browning never allows Porphyria’s voice to be heard; her input is restricted through the use of dramatic monologue. The speaker stared at Porphyria’s lifeless, “smiling rosy little head” for the entirety of the night. The descriptive adjective “rosy” indicates youth and fertility through red colour imagery, illustrating the speaker’s flagrant objectification of Porphyria. Porphyria served her main purpose of winning his admiration and appreciation through her aesthetic external beauty, which would be considered superficial and ignorant today.

Additionally, men are presented as dangerous and sociopathic. Post-murder, the speaker exclaims that “God has not said a word!”.The noun phrase “God” alludes to the biblical notion that the omnipotent and omniscient God would “destroy all the wicked”. Because the speaker suffers no immediate repercussions after he violently strangles his lover out of spite, he believes he can evade responsibility for his crimes; even to the extent that he mocks “God” for God’s inaction. His nonchalance and indifference to the death of a loved one, along with the poem’s regular ABABB rhyme scheme and iambic quadrameter throughout evince psychopathic tendencies his cold, calculated, callous nature. The overt bloodthirstiness and violent imagery would have quenched the heavily-religious Victorian audience’s thirst for gothic fiction and goriness. The cottage negatively becomes a microcosm for man’s inherent evil and lust for savagery and destruction.

Likewise, men are presented as paranoid and jealous of women. A motive for murder was the speaker’s inability to tolerate divergent class divisions and Porphyria’s implied sexual promiscuity. The speaker grouses that Porphyria is “Too weak” to “dissever” “vainer ties”. The adjectival phrase “vainer ties” suggests the speaker is dissatisfied with Porphyria’s proximity to her higher-class family, alluding to the patriarchal notion that men, as providers, should supply a family’s finances. However, as the speaker lacks material wealth or status, the speaker’s ego and sense of masculinity are considerably damaged , prompting him to deal Porphyria the greatest equalizer: Death. As Porphyria enters the cottage, she “let” her “damp hair fall”. Metaphorically, the dynamic verb “fall” conveys Porphyria is a “fallen woman”: a shunned woman who had strayed from God’s light and surrendered her chastity pre-marriage, whereas in our post-modern society, sexual spontaneity is both widespread and acceptable.

In conclusion, Browning, an advocate and whistleblower for gender equality, aimed to spark a reform in social construct by diverting attention to the negative traits of a male-dominated hierarchy. To an extent, Browning has succeeded in his mission: the modern reader reels in shock and disgust at the conventions that once plagued culture and civilisation. Although Porphyria is silenced, and pays the price of insurgence with her life, she wins the sympathy and support of Victorian and contemporary audiences.

Robert Browning, an English poet and playwright, well-known for his dramatic monologues is one of the foremost Victorian poets, whose poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax. “In 1846, he married the older poet Elizabeth Barrett, and went to live in Italy. By the time of her death, in 1861,he had published the crucial collection Men and Women,” one of which is The Last Ride Together, published in 1855, is one of the finest dramatic monologue by Browning. “The title represents the last time the former couple take a ride together. Although the narrator does grieve the end of his romance, his wishes to reflect his appreciation for the time they had together and the love he experienced. The poem has an overall bittersweet tone, balancing sadness and optimism.The theme of the poem is love and the speaker might be described as a triumphant obsessive and could ostensibly suggest the importance of striving through, riding which was often important stimulus for Browning. “Though many readers take it as a love poem, actually it shows the philosophical revelation of the poet on love and life, success and failure.” The poem is full of prodigal use of similes and metaphors with vibrant imagery, rhythm throughout is fractured but the rhyme scheme is consistent in each stanza. It’s a first person narrative encapsulating and focussing on the wishes of a man for a last ride together with his beloved but she does not reciprocate. “Some critics see Freudian symbols within the poem, the title in particular interpreted as a metaphor for the sexual act. Suffice to say, as the poem progresses, it does become clear that this is no ordinary horse ride through gentle countryside. This is a journey that takes place in heart and mind.” The lover is being rejected and completely dejected but he resigns to his fate and do not murmur and grumble against his beloved. He also compares himself with the poet, the sculptor and the musician who aim at an ideal attempt to reach sublimate, but remains unsuccessful. He feels gratitude towards his beloved for fulfilling his last wish, though being rejected by her. “He consoles himself by saying that it is not only he who is suffering because of the indifference and ingratitude of his beloved but there are others also who have met with the same fate in their lives with their own sweethearts.” He is contented to cherish her memory. “He has attained heavenly glory and divine bliss through human agency.” The poem revolves around Browning’s principal philosophies-life is always greater than art and love is the best thing life can bring. “Experience here on earth is the ultimate and one doesn’t have to wait to have a blissful life in the here and now.”

Talking about the stanzas a little bit, in the first one, he is traumatized and blames fate for his destiny and the end of his romance. He only relies on the memory that he shared with his beloved and despite the end of the love affair, he blesses her name. He further talks about the woman’s reaction in the second stanza, as she surveys him with pride tempered with pity. Here we can see the narrator comparing her answer with life or death, accentuating the emotional stakes that are always at play when it comes to love and passion. The third one focusses on the ecstatic feeling of the last ride by focussing on the beauty of the surroundings, the passion he feels and the blissful feeling that he had with her touching him. In the fourth one, the speaker want to enjoy the present moment of being with her and lets go of the past hopes which could either be better or even worse. In the sixth stanza, we get the philosophical idea that a life of contemplation in love is far better than any pleasures that the material world can provide. It contains many allusions and analogies, such as comparing the greatest joys of life to a crown that one can reach and comes firmly on the idea that the lover’s life is superior. Seventh and eighth stanzas focus on comparisons of love to a poet and a sculptor as mentioned earlier. In the last stanzas, the narrator wonders what fate has in store for them and then shifts his focus on his beloved and her being silent all the while and on a wistful note, imagines for the moment’s eternity.

In Victorian times, people rode horses and to go riding together was seen as a romantic and appropriate thing for lovers to do. But there is an ambiguity related to the mention of horse throughout the poem, except in the fifth stanza, “we rode… either side”, but that too conveys far more than a simple physical journey on horseback. The poem ends on a positive note, with the poet imagining the eternity in the moment where he could get on the ride forever with his beloved. It, instead, leaves up to the reader to decide whether or not the poem is successful as a sexual metaphor.

Powerful individuals who commit evil acts do not regard their actions or themselves as evil. Evil should be employed to qualify acts of persons rather than their character. This distinct change would allow individuals to abstain from the foundational interpretation of evil and, hence, analyse the evil acts in their contexts and effectively distinguish their inherent characteristics and motivation. ‘The Prince’ by Niccolò Machiavelli promotes the incentive of evil only when deemed necessary for the state’s preservation and glorification. This recognition of evil is not only carried on due to the evil-doer’s own self-interest, but for the greater good. Meanwhile, ‘The Laboratory’ by Robert Browning portrays a psychopathic woman that displays a disturbing look at the concept of madness in the nineteenth-century context. Although a corrupted character with evil intention is perceived at first glance, the degree of understanding and sympathy is manifested as a result of the provocation of their actions. Lastly, ‘X-Men Last Class’ directed by Matthew Vaughn presents a vengeful character with a depressing backstory that allows the readers to fathom out the reason behind his actions. From 16th century political treatise to modern day films, the evil acts committed by powerful individuals certainly does not make them evil overall.

The idea that powerful individuals may commit evil acts without necessarily being evil themselves is unequivocally displayed through Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince.’ In ‘The Prince,’ Machiavelli discusses the ideal pathway to effective leadership through a combination of guiding principles such as deceitfulness, authority over violence and fear of subjects. One of the most prominent details of the work is the significant argument that cruelty is a necessity in ensuring the prosperity of one’s state, even when what is necessary involves acting that is markedly viewed as immoral. Throughout the text, Machiavelli makes numerous declarations about effectual rulership that may be seen to the readers unessentially tyrannical and merciless. Because of this, the term “Machiavellian” has been correlated to means of evil behaviour in the contemporary world. Machiavelli states, “It is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” Thus, the central idea of Machiavelli’s explanation regarding cruelty and sympathy is dependent on the perspective of human nature. According to Machiavelli, humans are prompt by an aspiration to diminish danger and maximize satisfaction to themselves. As such, he believes that humans will likely harm someone if they do not harm them back in return. On the other hand, being excessively sympathetic to people will lead them to presume the prince will not harm them at all. This set of circumstances is one that a prince must avoid in order to maintain glory. Furthermore, Machiavelli provides historical allusions with references to Cesare Borgia and his father, Pope Alexander VI as prime examples of how and when cruelty was used successfully. The theme of ‘Lessons of History’ proclaims that an effective leader should replicate previous successors who had achieved greatness and ruled prosperously. Additionally, Machiavelli urges princes to “learn from the fox and the lion; because the lion is defenceless against traps and a fox is defenceless against wolves.” Within this analogy and metaphor, Machiavelli addresses the crucial balance of an image. He gauges how necessary it is to utilize exceptional means with the guidance of political morality that aims for the greater good. Therefore, ‘The Prince’ reflects how individuals who commit evil acts do not reveal their immorality as a character overall but instead convey their effort for the greater good, suggesting Machiavelli’s adherence to power and morality.

Robert Browning’s ‘The Laboratory,’ tackles the momentous subject of madness and the darkness of human nature in a psychological monologue that not only reveals the moral insanity of characters, but also the understanding and justification of their evil acts. The term ‘madness’ has evolved throughout history. Browning introduces a psychologically disturbed character that exhibits a captivating take on the concept of madness that is established in the nineteenth-century context. The poem exemplifies the Victorian fascination of human individuality and subconscious. Browning depicts a female persona working with an apothecary who is formulating a poison that she is intending to use to kill her rivals in love. The persona states, “Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow/While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear.” Consequently, the statement demonstrates the idea that the lover and his paramour being sympathetic towards her and her discerning them being joyous makes her demented. Browning paints an image of a betrayed woman who descents into insanity. The idea of insanity is effectively shown through Browning’s authorial methods such as the use of alliteration and plosive sounds that reinforces the persona’s obsessive idea of killing. “Grind away, moisten and mash up thy past, /Pound at thy powder,” produces a rhythmic pattern that resonates a witchlike cry. Furthermore, the determination of her killing her rivals elicits an anxious tone. The desperation of the persona and the intentness of getting the poison emphasizes the significant theme of revenge. The depth of her agony and wretchedness could have the readers commiserate with her to some extent. Despite her evil intentions that can be associated with depravity, her depletion of self-discipline and the excessiveness of her barbarousness causes her criminality debatable. In similar fashion to ‘The Prince,’ the monstrous immoral actions that are acted upon individuals have motivation and reasoning behind it. Hence, ‘The Laboratory’ is an exceptional example that reveals the morality and power of the poem that individuals are not necessarily evil when they commit evil acts.

The psychology of Erik Lensherr in ‘X-Men First Class’ demonstrates his consequential drive towards rectifying the world through immoral practices that do not necessarily make the character evil inclusively. Throughout the film, Erik teeters on his optimism that mutants are exclusively superior and are treated as the next stage of human evolution. However, due to his history of trauma, Erik’s perspective and intentions were made very clear to the audience. The film uses a flashback to not only elaborate Erik’s backstory, but also have the audience witness his path of righteousness and his transformation into the vengeance-driven Magneto. The disturbing scene of his parents’ death at the hands of a Nazi effectively makes the viewers sympathize with him and root for Erik throughout the film. In addition, the close-up shots of Nazis wrestling Erik into the ground depict a broken man that has lost a sense of meaning and purpose in his life, a man for whom “peace was never an option.” In one of the most powerful sequences in the film, Erik states, “The real enemy is out there. Humans.” For much of his excruciating life, Erik found a sense of purpose in demolishing those who harm him. The statement, “I’ve been at mercy of men just following orders. Never again,” effectively echoes Erik’s past and making the Magneto archetype far more pragmatic and practical when dealing with human flaws. Identical to ‘The Prince,’ Magneto is ‘Machiavellian’ in nature. He is nor a hero or villain as his objective is to simply protect his kind at all cost even when what is necessary requires acts that are considered to be evil. While his tactics and schemes are completely abominable, his purpose could be interpreted as virtuous. Furthermore, ‘The Laboratory’ has similarities to ‘X-Men First Class’ as individuals in both texts undergo suffering on personal levels that makes the readers understand their extremism and motivation. Thus, Erik Lensherr in ‘X-Men First Class,’ explores the transformation from a tortured child to the villainous Magneto who is not inevitably evil due to the sorrowful origins that shaped his view of the world.

Individuals who commit evil acts do not consider their actions or their themselves as evil. To understand their viewpoint is to apprehend their motivations that limits their evilness. ‘The Prince,’ ‘The Laboratory’ and ‘X-Men First Class’ exhibit powerful figures who commit evil acts that do not necessarily mean they are evil. The term ‘evil’ should be used to describe the acts performed rather than the character. By doing this, the fundamental characteristics and motivation of characters can be analysed. As a result, the statement that powerful individuals may commit evil acts without necessarily being evil themselves is accurate.

My Last Duchess” is a poem written by Robert Browning from the point of view of Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara during the 16th century. His speech is very formal, using a very strict rhyme scheme and rhythm to establish couplets. This shows that the Duke appreciates control, and applies effort to control his statements. The sentence structure of the poem contradicts its rhyme scheme; the lines are paired as rhythmic couplets or rhymed couplets, but the couplets are ‘open’ or somewhat random. That is, the sentences stretch across several lines rather than finishing at the same time that the lines finish. Robert Browning uses symbolism, imagery, allusion, and allegory many times in the poem. Symbolism and imagery are present when the Duke refers to Frà Pandolf several times, but doesn’t give much information about the actual artwork created by Frà. He rather boasts the distinguished and well-known name. The duchess’ smiles and blushes are an example of imagery and symbolism, when the Duke describes her blush as a ‘spot of joy’ (line 21). This spot is a signal of the pleasure of the Duchess, something that is out of her control. The Duke thinks of the “spot” as a symbol of her tainted character, a somewhat stain on her personality. The reference of Neptune is an example of allusion and allegory. The Duke highlights that this statue was made specifically for him, and also again like with Frà Pandolf, emphasises the sculptor, which probably means that the sculptor is distinguished. Robert Browning uses all of these literary techniques to convey the message of Power, and how the Duke possesses it, as well as how the Duke flaunts his power to get what he wants, relating back to the theme statement; Domination will ultimately lead to downfall.

“Viva la Vida” is a song written and performed by the band Coldplay. It retells the story of the French Revolution during the 1790’s. The song is basically just putting the narrator / singer in the point of view of Louis XVI, and the theme is his shift from ultimate power to death. Coldplay use a range of poetic devices to further enhance the message, such as hyperbole, repetition, rhyme, alliteration and metaphor. ‘Seas would rise when I gave the word’ (line 2) Is a hyperbole, as it overstates the seas rising upon his will and on his command. It denotes to everyone that serves the king, and how they would do exactly as he wants upon his will. ‘I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing Be my mirror, my sword, and shield My missionaries in a foreign field’ (line 13-16). This phrase is repeated several times, because, it is not only the chorus, but it also adds emphasis to that stanza. ‘I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing Roman Cavalry choirs are singing’ (line 13-14). This is an example of a Feminine Rhyme scheme, where each rhyming word has two syllables. One syllable is stressed, and the other is unstressed. In music, rhyme helps the melody to flow easier throughout the song, making it memorable and catchy. “It was a wicked and wild wind’ is an example of alliteration, as these three words have consonants that are repeated. It emphasises the words that describe the nature of the wind. ‘For my head on a silver plate just a puppet on a lonely string’ (line 24-26). This is an example of metaphor, because it relates the king to a puppet held up by a single string. Because the king’s men have left him, he has been abandoned, and there is no-one else there to defend him. Coldplay have used these poetic devices in addition to retelling a well known historical story to convey the message of Power, and how the king in this situation has been corrupted and now is being punished for that; linking back to the theme statement of Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In the poem “Circe’s Power”, the writer, Louise Gluck advances Circe’s character through the contradiction she shows between her decision to turn Odysseus’ men into pigs, and her relationship and association with Odysseus. Louise Gluck shows her reasoning for turning those men into pigs through the point of view of Circe, and reinforces that she has a lot more tricks and is more deceitful than first believed. Louise Gluck uses poetic techniques such as imagery, symbolism and enjambment to support the overall theme. The sea is mentioned only once (line 18), but it is continually on our mind. It is hard to distinguish anything similar between The Odyssey and the sea, because much of Odysseus’ journey takes place in the ocean. We also feel a little apologetic for Circe, who know lives alone in the middle of the ocean. The symbolism of the sea makes us lonely and anxious. Imagery is also present, as it forces us to picture Odysseus sailing away towards the sea. Circe claims that she only uses her magic to reveal the truth. Circe’s power comes from her ability to exercise magical powers, but sometimes her magic fails her, and she then relies on using words instead. For example; in line 23, ‘Hold’ is used as a pun. Conversely, In this situation, ‘hold’ refers both to keep someone a prisoner, and to hold someone in your arms. Enjambment is feaured regularly throughout the entirety of the poem, and sometimes, it is hard to read, due to moving quickly backwards and forth. We can’t help but to think that Circe is being deceiving again, and playing a trick, or is flaunting her power to the reader. Often, she forces us to hurry back and forth from the end of a line to the start of the next. Louise Gluck uses these techniques to reinforce the theme of power throughout the poem, linking back to the theme statement; Love has the ability to strip those of power.

Imagine a girl who is prettier, smarter, and more charming than you. She can talk to other people easily, be the favourite child, and is even more feminine than you. Arrgh! Isn’t it irritating? Don’t you want to push them, strangle them, or even kill them? Whoa, that elevated quickly, didn’t it? Without even knowing ourselves, jealousy can steer us into taking immoral decisions, just so we can satisfy our own insecurities.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads only lives once.” You’re living the feelings and emotions of the main character, as you read the book, or poem. The more books you read, the more lives you live.

… I find myself fully immersed in The Laboratory, by Robert Browning. In seconds, I’m experiencing the life of a broken-hearted mistress, who wants to poison the girl she is jealous of. I asked myself.

Do I really want to be like her?

Well, no.

Sometimes, our passion overrides the good in us.

But, there’s always that one “problem” in the way.

Blurred with selfishness, we try to get rid of it by the swords of force and cruelty.

What amazes me even to this day, is that Robert Browning implicity conveys the concept that death can be right under our noses!

Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,

Pound at thy powder,- I am not in haste!

If we look at the first line, you can tell the presence of imperative tone is very chilling. The commands of “grinding” and “mashing” up a paste suggest that she is so eager to use a fatal poison that will get rid of the other desirable and attractive woman. She’s literally savouring the preparations of a murder!

Do you have any idea how inhumane it is to make another person suffer, just because you’re suffering? If I were her, I wouldn’t be watching an alchemist “pound thy powder”, and “observe thy strange things” to kill someone who lives in my dreams!

“Anger, resentment and jealousy doesn’t change the heart of others– it only changes yours”. They say that you can’t flatten a scrunched up paper again, because it’s permanent.

Would you push someone down, just so you can climb up to the summit? That’s just unacceptable.

Now, onto my second point.

To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,

A signent, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!”

Did you realise something?

Pure death is as something that can be hidden in other objects, like accessories. Usually, these items are carried, or owned by upper class woman.

An upper-class woman… like her ex’s fiance?…

If an upper-class woman is carrying around these things with death, then something fishy is going on…

That’s right, Robert Browning uses metonymy, a technique which is used to refer the poison to pure death! The mistress believes that if the poison was somehow carefully integrated with the other woman’s “earrings, or signents”, then she’s walking to her own pathway of death.

Using physical objects, and referring it to the stages of life is pretty daunting, especially when there’s a jealous woman on the loose.

“Comparison is a very foolish attitude, because each person is unique and incomparable. Once this understanding settles in you, jealousy disappears.” We are all like stars, but we shouldn’t cloud ourselves with darkness, or else, we stop shining. I don’t want anyone in here to loose the good in them because they are jealous. Not only that, the concept of death being hidden still makes me question my existence. I mean, live your life, and don’t be so negative on yourself! That’s what I learnt from The Laboratory.