Jealousy in Three Dramatic Monologues by Browning
The poems 'My Last Duchess', 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'The Laboratory'
are three dramatic monologues, theatrical tales of bitter jealousy
told by anonymous, murderous lovers.
'My Last Duchess' and 'Porphyria's Lover' use the simple idea of cruel
male domination to portray the narrator's jealousy, as these two men
do not know any other way of controlling their seemingly flirtatious
lovers' behaviour. They try to completely possess their women as
objects, and such a need for power seems to be a pure statement of
irrational jealousy.
The following quotations show this idea clearly and, although the
later is not direct to the murder of his lover, it is plain that the
narrator is cruel, objective possessiveness.
"I propped her head up as before."
This quotation clearly shows that Porphyria's lover did not seem to
understand the full consequence of murdering this woman, an idea which
is also quite apparent in my last duchess, as the Duke certainly
appears to brag about his wife's flirtatious behaviour, and it
stopping. Returning to the idea of cruel male domination, though, this
is obviously apparent in 'My Last Duchess' when the Duke suddenly
proclaims the following;
"Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse."
I would argue that Neptune is representative of the Duke, 'taming'
though I would suggest imprisoning, brutally dominating a beauty of
nature, which is representative of the Duchess, whom the Duke
violently 'tamed' also.
This idea is not so apparent in 'The Laboratory' because the narrator
is female. We do, however, see her plotting the murder of her
adulterous husband, so in a way is trying to 'tame' him too. Cruel,
male domination...
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...ithee?"
The woman has bought a poison to kill her husband's lover with, which
is a typical murder weapon of women, and also the most vicious of the
three murders, as it would be the most painful for the victim.
Murder, therefore, is the main presentation of jealousy in the three
poems, and gives us considerable insight to the point of the narrator,
because the poems are dramatic monologues. The narrators cannot see
that their jealousy has overridden natural behaviour because they
simply couldn't control and dominate their lover's behaviour.
In conclusion, therefore, jealousy is presented throughout the poems
as an ultimate need for control and brutal domination, leading to the
irrational behaviour of the narrators, and unprecedented murder
through inability to control their own behaviour, let alone anyone
else's, and of course, their own jealousy.
Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland was a book that took us back to the horror of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a mass killing of Jews in Germany that was led by Adolf Hitler. Hitler wanted to get rid of all of the Jews in Europe because he thought they were an inferior race. So Hitler would gather the men who were going to have the job of killing the Jews and they were called the “Ordinary Men”. In this book Browning does a great job showing who the ordinary men were and how the ordinary men turned into killers. The Ordinary men were men in the german army who had the job of killing innocent Jews daily. The men didn’t have a choice in this decision of killing the jews.
it becomes apparent that he was, as a matter of fact, not put on trial
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Throughout Othello the Moor of Venice we experience a rather uplifting story that seems to somehow come crashing down on not only the characters in the story but the reader also. Author William Shakespeare does a tremendous job at connecting us with the characters in the play. Othello, the protagonist in the play, falls slowly into the pit of destruction where jealousy takes control. He along with many other characters in the play are manipulated by Iago and slowly taken down from a peaceful, love filled, and triumphant place in their lives to one that is dark and revengeful. Many are led to their deaths because of the terrible deeds done by Iago, some of which include Othello himself who commits suicide only after murdering his new wife over nothing but the mindset of jealousy and hate. Shakespeare explores a vast amount of literary content here some of which delve into Jealousy. Jealousy alongside intense deceitful manipulation can introduce a person to another sinister side of themselves they never knew to existed. Iago 's ultimate goal in the play is not yet clearly laid out; there is much to
When many people decided to sit down and read a book or a play it is because the title or summary entices them. As the story comes to an end it is decided whether or not the person related to or understood the point of the literature. Great authors and playwrights know this and set in place concepts. Many different concepts, to catch different audiences attention and to deepen the understanding of the literature. In order to understand Shakespeare’s play Othello, it is necessary to examine the emotions of jealousy, manipulation, being consumed by something, and gender.
Macbeth, the main character in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth was not secure in his manhood. This insecurity led to the downfall of Macbeth because he felt the need to prove himself to Lady Macbeth. After he proved himself by killing Duncan, Macbeth became desensitized to killing.
The most important emotions that we see in Macbeth are ambition, remorse, and fear. They are significant because they provoke Macbeth to do evil and cruel things. Ambition takes control of him earlier in the play when the witches tell him he is going to be king. After he already has done the deed, killed Duncan, he is remorseful for his actions. Out of fear for himself, Macbeth murdered Macduff’s family and killed Banquo.
Kashayla Snipes Dr. Nancy Blair English Composition 1102 February 25, 2014. Othello: A Tragedy of Jealosuy. “Jealousy is troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.”
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The psychological feeling of jealousy is defined as “a complex emotion marked by insecurity and the fear of losing something important. It is highlighted by feelings of abandonment and anger” (Alleydog.com). In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, jealousy acts as a catalyst for the tragic events that take place. Iago’s plan for Othello’s demise is motivated by jealousy, as Iago is enraged by not being chosen as Othello’s lieutenant, and due to his suspicion that his wife was having an affair with Othello. Roderigo also displays jealousy and envy towards Othello, which results in him providing money and assistance to Iago in exchange for helping Roderigo win over Desdemona. However, the greatest display
Othello is one of the best and most famous literary works of William Shakespeare's that expresses the danger of jealousy. The play studies how jealousy can be accelerated by ordinary circumstances evidence leading to the destruction of lives. The protagonist in the play succumbs to jealousy brought about by people leading to death at the end of the play. In the play, jealousy takes many different forms from professional competition to sexual suspicion, but whichever the form, it always leads to destruction. This paper focuses on the theme of jealousy depicted in Shake spheres play expressing what it drives people to do.
William Shakespeare was an actor, poet and playwriter who is known of as one of the greatest writers in the English language. His work consisted of comedies and tragic plays which portrayed situations and conflicts that are still relevant to events taking place in present time. In the play Othello, the tragedy puts focus into the fall of Othello and other characters due to jealousy. The presence of jealousy creates many conflicts involving characters and their emotional distress from the events taking place around them. These feelings of jealousy alter a characters' perception of reality, conditions them to jump to false conclusions, and makes them act irrationally in the height of their emotional conflicts.
In the play A Midsummer's night dream, William shakespeare expresses love,blind and Hate through some of the characters in the play. I'm going to be focusing on Helena and how she shows/tells us ( the audience ) about love. The basis of Helena is that she is in love with demetrius but demetrius doesn't want her. Then once demetrius finally wants her she doesn’t want him because he is under a love potion.
Jealousy, whatever it may be driven by, can produce many different actions in a person depending on their desires. Othello craftly examines a few examples of these with highly contrasting characters driven by vastly different things. The different manifestations of jealousy in said characters can be analysed through the characters of Roderigo, Othello, and Iago, while also proving how jealousy can sometimes be a front for more cynister feelings.