How does Browning show the balance of power between men and women in
My Last Duchess and Porphryria's Lover?
In these two poems Robert Browning shows the balance of power in
male-female relationships. Both are very similar in the way that they
portray the women having more power than they should have, and the men
not having the power they think they should have.
In the first poem, 'My Last Duchess', Browning shows the Duke not
having full control over his wife, the Duchess. In the second poem,
'Porphyria's Lover', the narrator does not have control because she is
in a higher class and cannot be with him and she would lower her class
and she is not ready to give it up.
In 'My Last Duchess', the Duke is talking to someone about the dead
Duchess. He first refers to power over the Duchess in the poem when he
says about the painting of her behind the curtain, and if anybody
wants to see it they would have to ask him first,
'Since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I'
This shows that he still has control over her even though she has
passed on. After that he writes about how every little detail seemed
to please her,
'She had
A heart how shall I say... too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.'
The Duke gets quite angry at this point,
'The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her,'
This is about how a man broke into the orchard, took a bunch of cherry
blossom and gave it to the duchess, and made her very pleased, which
as you can understand he can give her far better things than a common
man can give,
'As if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift.'
He gave her his old and important family name which most women would
give their happiness to have, when she married him, which in the
Duke's eyes is better than anything else in the world.
He says that to comment on this behaviour is stooping down to a lower
level,
'And I choose
Never to stoop'
The Duchess's behaviour becomes beyond tolerable next,
'Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
When'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.'
This greatly suggests that the Duke thought he had the power over the
Duchess, and used it to order someone to kill her, although he doesn't
directly say but he strongly hints it. But Browning cleverly wrote the
The atrocities of war can take an “ordinary man” and turn him into a ruthless killer under the right circumstances. This is exactly what Browning argues happened to the “ordinary Germans” of Reserve Police Battalion 101 during the mass murders and deportations during the Final Solution in Poland. Browning argues that a superiority complex was instilled in the German soldiers because of the mass publications of Nazi propaganda and the ideological education provided to German soldiers, both of which were rooted in hatred, racism, and anti-Semitism. Browning provides proof of Nazi propaganda and first-hand witness accounts of commanders disobeying orders and excusing reservists from duties to convince the reader that many of the men contributing to the mass
In Colonial Virginia in 1661, Rebecca Nobles was sentenced to ten lashes for bearing an illegitimate child. Had she been an indentured servant she would also have been ordered to serve her master an additional two years to repay his losses incurred during her pregnancy. After 1662, had she been an enslaved African woman she would not have been prosecuted, because in that year the Colonial government declared children born to slave women the property of their mother's master. A child born to a slave brought increased wealth, whereas the child of an indentured servant brought increased financial responsibility. This evolving legislation in Colonial Virginia reflected elite planter interests in controlling women's sexuality for economic gain. Race is also defined and manipulated to reinforce the authority and economic power of elite white men who enacted colonial legislation. As historian Kathleen M. Brown demonstrates in her book Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs, the concepts of gender and race intersect as colonial Virginians consolidated power and defined their society. Indeed, gender and race were integral to that goal. In particular, planter manipulations of social categories had a profound effect on the economic and political climate in Colonial Virginia.
Gender Criticism and The Turn of the Screw The Turn of the Screw by Henry James continues to stir up an immense amount of controversy for such a short novel. Making a definite, educated decision on the actual truth considering the countless inquiries that develop while reading this story proves more difficult than winning a presidential election. That being said, taking one particular side on any argument from a close reading of the story seems impossible, because the counter argument appears just as conceivable. Any side of the controversy remains equally disputable, considerably supported by textual evidence from the novel.
Thinking about history and Genocides, we want to imagine the enemies as being somehow different from us. Take watching a film, for instance, you’re watching an action film with a villain or killer. We consider them to be different from us we are scared of them, we look at the differently than a “normal” human. We tend to think of the enemies in history to be the same as the villain or killer in a movie. We perceive this because we don’t want to assume that any normal human being is capable of committing a Genocide. As a society, we believe we are different from the chaos in the world. Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserved Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland, portrayed the story from the opposite viewpoint. Everyday
Women are known for as holding families together. When times get rough women are the foundation to the family and help keep things together. A woman poses different qualities that can help keep the family strong. These qualities can be categorized in the four archetypes of a woman. The idea of the woman Archetype is presented by Carl Jung. The first being Mother Nature, the very physical aspect and the second is the virgin, which represents the spiritual aspect of the archetype. The third is the young which who is the physical state while the fourth is the old witch possessing the spiritual side of the woman archetype. The four women in John Steinbecks, The Grapes of Wrath represent these four archetypes and take on responsibilities that in the end help the family succeeds in achieving their dreams.
In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of the Victorian culture are inverted amongst the sexes of characters, thus pointing out the similarities of the characters and the so called “monster” which they call Dracula.
... to me by my optimistic Aunt, Pollyanna Roseannadanna - it’s called “The Fox and the Grapes.” Once upon a time there was this little fox who loved fruit. and one day he saw this bunch of grapes hanging from a tree. Well, the fox jumped, and jumped and jumped cause he wanted to eat the grapes. But he couldn’t reach ‘em. So he went out, and bought himself a wooden stool, and put it under the tree. He climbed up and reached but he fell off and the fox died.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel filled with many symbolic references that reflect not only the issues/concerns of the Puritan era but also of similar issues of his own time period, which Hawthorne reveals his personal opinions on. One example of said issues evident in his work is the Puritan society’s view/treatment of women, which he appears to express contempt for through the use of his character Hester Prynne. However, even though Hawthorne appears to not be in favor of how the Puritan government perceives/deals with women, he also doesn’t seem to be willing to allow the equally involved patriarchal system to be challenged or abolished since it works in a man’s favor and at times he even concurs with society in terms
The Grapes of Wrath attempts to show the difference between the groups of people and the characters along the lines of race, class, and religion, which are discussed in this paper. The Okies' racial status as Anglo Americans appeared to distinguish them from other immigrant workers. Steinbeck utilizes their whiteness further bolstering his good fortune. The "Harvest Gypsies" articles underline the migrants' Anglo-Saxon legacy: their names "show that they are of English, German and Scandinavian plunge." To these families living in provincial regions, with names like "Munns, Holbrooks, Hansens, Schmidts," majority rules system "was not just conceivable be that as it may inescapable" (Hicks, 1939). Steinbeck announces that "this new race" is in California for all time, dissimilar to past migrant gatherings who were extradited when they were no more handy; consequently, he predicts, the state will need to adjust its framework to suit them. Since they are Americans, "the old routines for constraint, of starvation wages, of imprisoning, beating and intimidation are not going to work." The Grapes of Wrath offers a challenge to working class readers to unite with the working population subjects of the story, contending that the desolates of capital amassing are felt all around the society, even all the more intensely on the penniless migrant workers.
Once the reader can passes up the surface meaning of the poem Blackberry-Picking, by Seamus Heaney, past the emotional switch from sheer joy to utter disappointment, past the childhood memories, the underlying meaning can be quite disturbing. Hidden deep within the happy-go-lucky rifts of childhood is a disturbing tale of greed and murder. Seamus Heaney, through clever diction, ghastly imagery, misguided metaphors and abruptly changing forms, ingeniously tells the tale that is understood and rarely spoken aloud.
Do you believe that women of this present generation have always received the same level of respect as they receive now? Today, women are treated exceptionally well as compared to their counterparts in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and treated even better than those in the very early years of America. Women in the past were restricted from freedoms and rights; their individuality was stripped and they were constantly forced to meet the constraining view of a “traditional” America. In contrast, women of modern America are granted a level of recognition and respect unexplored by American women of previous generations.
The feeling of not being heard or not being allowed to do what you want is placed upon women in the 1930s. Harper Lee’s depiction of women, in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is they should be able to have an important voice in society, make changes they feel are important, and do certain actions without conforming to gender normalities.
The characters and themes in The Cherry Orchard are relevant in any time period. Social change, mid-life regrets, and hope for the future generation are challenges and anxieties that faced people in the past and will face people in the future. The Cherry Orchard is a relevant piece of literature that embodies and encompasses general views and ideas to which people in any time period can relate.
In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “Fra Lippo Lippi” we as the readers are presented with a lot of background information about the speaker itself. This monologue overall subjects a monk/painter of Renaissance Italy. I find this monologue very interesting because of the fact that Browning uses sarcasm and witty personality in his favor at the beginning of the poem. The trait of the authorities being overzealous in the monk’s eyes is what charms the beginning first half of the monologue. For this writing assignment, I will analyze specific lines of 1-60; I believe the monk reveals a lot about himself as a character in the very first half of the poem which is why I find this of significance. While analyzing these specific lines, I will also describe how these lines help us as readers better understand this character in question.
...The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters, both families ultimately fail in the end. Their biggest dreams are defeated and neither receives the lives they all hoped they would one day achieve.