Examining Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning And Not To Blame by Joni Mitchell
To begin with, these two pieces of poetry are about two different
women who have suffered terrible violence from their male partners.
This essay compares the two poems identifying their similarities and
differences as they are both written from a different point of view. 'Porphyria's
Lover' is written from a male's point of view, Robert Browning whereas
'Not To Blame' is written from a female's point of view, Joni
Mitchell. Further more 'Porphyria's Lover' has been written in
Victorian times when issues like these were seen differently compared
with 'Not To Blame', as this is a modern poem.
Firstly the connotations of the titles are very interesting. In 'Porphyria's
Lover' the title can suggest two impressions as it could be referring
to the female's partner in the poem or someone she could possibly be
having an affair with. Likewise in 'Not To Blame' the title
demonstrates two connotations as it suggests that the female in the
poem was 'not to blame' or that the male was 'not to blame'. In effect
it makes you more aware of what the poem is about and lets you decide
on what you want to believe the title is trying to tell you.
The structures of the two poems are different. Although similarly they
both use poetic devices to make the poem stand out. 'Porphyria's
Lover' and 'Not To Blame' use carefully chosen phrases making a strong
impact on the reader.
In 'Porphyria's Lover' rhyme is used throughout most of the poem. It
also uses half rhyme, caesura and run on lines. The poems are also
written in free verse.
Caesura is shown in 'Porphyria's Lover' when the poem breaks in the
middle of the line,
'In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she; '
Using Caesura gives emphasis to 'And strangled her.' or to 'No pain
felt she; ' which makes a strong point to the important and shocking
The death of the female beloved is the only way deemed possible by the insecure, possessive male to seize her undivided attention. This beloved woman represents the "reflector and guarantor of male identity. Hence, the male anxiety about the woman's independence for her liberty puts his masculine self-estimation at risk" (Maxwell 29). The jealous and controlling males in Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" possess a fervent desire to fix and monopolize their unconstrained female beloveds. Due to a fear of death, both speakers attempt to achieve control and deny object loss; by turning their lovers (once subjects) into objects, they ultimately attain the role of masterful subject.
The Shadow of the Galilean by Gerd Theissen is a fictional narrative about a Jewish merchant, Andreas, searching for information about a group of people known as Essenes, John the Baptist, and Jesus of Nazareth. While traveling through Jerusalem Andreas was imprisoned by the Romans thinking he was a part of a demonstration against Polite when his mission was to find Jesus. Andreas writes, “I never met Jesus on my travels through Galilee. I just found traces of him everywhere: anecdotes and stories, traditions and rumors. But everything that I heard of him fits together.
“Love is like the sea. It's a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore.” The main character in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford, possesses a seemingly unquenchable thirst for affection, and does not rest until she finds the man who is able to offer her the love she desires and believes to deserve. Janie defines love as a fluid force that is different with every man, and transforms with changing circumstances. Janie does not care to be wealthy, or to have high social standing; she wishes to be submerged in a sea of tenderness and to swim through waters of passion, and to be caressed by captivating waves of lust. Her idealistic conception of love and the corresponding desire for it developed from her sixteen-year-old obsession with a bee pollinating a pear blossom in the back yard of her grandmother’s house.
It is important that we examine their poems so we can know what they experienced. It is helpful to others because they may have experienced the same situation. They may have also wanted to speak.
From the very first word of the poem, there is a command coming from an unnamed speaker. This establishes a sense of authority and gives the speaker a dominant position where they are dictating the poem to the reader rather than a collaborative interacti...
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is a gothic tale written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844. It was included in his collection of short stories called Mosses from an Old Manse. At this time he was forty years old and had been married to Sophia Peabody for two years. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is considered to be one of the most timeless tales ever written. The tale starts off with a young man, Giovanni, who comes to Padua to pursue his studies at the University of Padua. He rents a room in a “high and gloomy chamber” above a magical and poisonous garden. The garden is run by an old mad scientist, Dr. Rappaccini, and his gorgeous daughter, Beatrice. Giovanni falls in love with Beatrice but is warned by Professor Baglioni to stay away from her because of her poisonous nature. Professor Baglioni gives Giovanni an antidote for Beatrice to rid her of her poisons. The tale ends tragically when the innocent Beatrice takes the antidote and falls to her death. Many readers see the story as an allegorical tale. Rappaccini’s garden allegorical to the Garden of Eden. It is important to note the characters as they symbolize Adam and Eve and God and Satan. Rappaccini is a scientist who studies the medicinal properties of plants. He plays God with the life of his daughter and with his “natural” creations. Giovanni is a young medical student who symbolizes Adam. Beatrice is the pure and innocent but poisonous daughter of Rappaccini. She symbolizes Eve. Professor Baglioni is a friend of Giovanni and the academic rival of Dr. Rappaccini. We see him as good and evil, and he symbolizes the Devil in the Garden of Eden. Lisabetta is Giovanni’s housekeeper, a kind elderly woman. It is also important to notice the shrub; the central shrub is symbolic because it represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The story studies many major themes, three of which will be examined in this essay: the drug as a double, romance as a drug, and nature versus science as a double in a context where the “creators” produce the pharmakon, the drug which is both poison and remedy. Romantic love also proves to be toxic, because of the confusion of the image of the beloved with the real person.
In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” a tale written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844, many conflicts, both thematically and characteristically, take place and help to illustrate Hawthorne’s gothic and epic themes. Conflicts between modern science and morality, good and evil, and inherent human faulty are all made evident. Four main characters are presented as vessels for Hawthorne’s grand scheme: Giacomo Rappaccini, Professor Baglioni, Giovanni Guasconti, and Beatrice.
Lisa Parker’s “Snapping Beans”, Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires”, John Frederick Nims’ “Love Poem”, and John Donne’s “Song” all demonstrate excellent use of imagery in their writing. All of the authors did a very good job at illustrating how the use of imagery helps the reader understand what the author’s message is. However, some of the poems use different poetic devices and different tones. In Lisa Parker’s “Snapping Beans” and Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires”, both poems display a good use of personification. However in John Donne’s “Song” and John Frederick Nims’ “Love Poem, they differ in the fact that the tone used in each poem contrasts from each other.
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne In "Rappaccini's Daughter", Nathaniel Hawthorne examines the combination of good and evil in people through the relationships of the story's main characters. The lovely and yet poisonous Beatrice, the daughter of the scientist Rappaccini, is the central figure of the story, while her neighbor Giovanni becomes the observer, participant, and interpreter of the strange events that transpire within the garden next door. It is Giovanni's inability to understand these events that eventually leads to Beatrice's death. Giovanni sees things that are either all good or all bad.
makes the paly thrilling to read. It keeps the reader hooked to the play and the
During the nineteenth century, women were regarded as ornaments “momentary toys of passion” to the society and properties to be traded within marriage, therefore, Victorian moralists repressed female sexuality. As a result, for a woman to admit she even had sexual desires was considered sinful, let alone acting on those desires - like Porphyria did - was borderline criminal. Moreover, when Porphyria “glided in” she “untied her hat and let her damp hair fall”. Victorian moralists referred to female fornicators as ‘fallen’ women. Additionally, committing adultery was also a sin as it went against one of the Ten Commandments “Thou shall not commit adultery”, therefore, Porphyria ‘letting her hair fall’ could symbolise the boundaries she had willingly chosen to overstep by coming to meet her lover.
to be more clearly presented. He made the scene of the poem less dream-like and more like an
...each a resolution by the end of the poem. Both meter and rhyme are very essential in building a solid, yet fluid structure to each poem.
people want to continue to read the poem a few more times. His was of
When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.