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ornamental line

Death and the Maiden

"Then all smiles stopped together" (l.46)
Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" (1842, 1842)

 

Points for Reflection

R. Browning's “Porphyria’s Lover” (1834; 1836, 1842)

  1. should the reader attribute the personification of lines 1-4 to the narrator or the author?
  2. what rhyme scheme does Browning follow in this poem? Why might Browning hide the poem's structure (it contains twelve five-line stanzas) by eliminating the traditional lines of space between each stanza?
  3. consider the significance of Browning's interrupting (with a period) the enjambment implied by the grammatical unity of lines 5-6.
  4. what array of things does Porphyria do that warm the cottage (ll.6-9)?
  5. which character appears to be in control in lines ll.15-20?
  6. what struggle does Porphyria relay to the narrator (ll.21-30)?
  7. is the narrator correct to interpret Porphyria's "passion" (l.26) as "worship" (l.33)?
  8. do you consider the narrator's assessment of Porphyria as "perfectly pure and good" to be a function of her actual character or his current emotional state?
  9. what does the narrator's perspective on his shocking actions reveal about the workings of his mind (l.41-55)? Do you consider his actions those of a criminal or a madman? Does the poem's final line inform your response at all?
  10. does it change your understanding of the poem to learn that Browning first published it as "Porphyria" in 1836, then paired it with "Johannes Agricola in Meditation" under the title "Madhouse Cells" in 1842, and finally separated it out again in 1863 under its current title?


R. Browning's "My Last Duchess" (1842, 1842)

  1. as imagined by the narrator, why might the painting of the Duchess indicate a "spot of joy" on her cheek? Also, what exactly does "spot of joy" (ll.14-15, 21) denote?
  2. of what does the narrator accuse the wife pictured in this painting, and how convincing is his argument?
  3. did the narrator express his grievances to his wife in no uncertain terms?
  4. where is the narrator's wife now?
  5. who is the narrator's audience (auditor), and what is the narrator's current endgame? Does it make sense that the narrator would tell his auditor the story behind the painting, given what the narrator is presently attempting to achieve?
  6. Browning could have placed any piece of art in the same vicinity as the Duchess's painting. Why might he have chosen the statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse (ll.54-56)?
  7. literary critic Robert Langbaum suggests, in The Poetry of Experience (1957), that the attentive reader is led to "identify" with Italian duke of the poem, and that his "conviction of matchless superiority, his intelligence and bland amorality, his poise, his taste for art, his manners" overwhelm the reader, causing us to suspend moral judgment because we prefer to participate in the duke’s power and freedom, in his hard core of character fiercely loyal to itself” (83). Do you agree with Langbaum's position?


A. Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” (1831-32; 1832 & 1842)

  1. is the Lady of Shalott able to thoroughly appreciate the beauty that surrounds her?
  2. does the Lady of Shalott have a knight dedicated to bringing her renown through his own exploits?
  3. is the Lady of Shalott content?
  4. does the description of Lancelot accord with other configurations of him you've run into elsewhere?
  5. what roles does Lancelot play in this poem?
  6. what is the Lady of Shalott doing when she dies?
  7. why do you think Tennyson spends time dabbling in legend and myth? Do you think this amplifies or lessens his poems' ability to comment on contemporary (Victorian) society and ideas?
  8. what socio-political ideas might Tennyson be forwarding in this poem, however indirectly? Does he appear to be commenting on the social position of women by subtly employing "parabolic drift"? Does this poem suggest anything about the nature of female sexual desire?
  9. does Tennyson employ or challenge physiognomic formulae that equate physical beauty with moral character?
  10. a number of artists and philosophers would claim that there is inherent beauty in any portrayal of pain, regardless of the poem, novel, or piece of art's aesthetic qualities. Is the pain of this heroine rendered as beautiful, tragic, or both?
  11. consider this poem's song-like quality, its reliance on repetition, and the dream-like states Tennyson creates both for his character and his reader. Do these factors prevent us from taking this poem as a serious commentary on social mores?
  12. stepping away from gender politics for a moment, what might this poem suggest about the social position of the artist, or the process of artistic creation? Does it echo any ideas presented in EBB’s “A Musical Instrument”?

a painting of a beautiful, lush greenery with vibrant greens and flowers with a water body in the center. There is a woman fully- dressed floating in the water, possibly deceased, and she is holding bright flowers.
Ophelia (1851-52)
model: Elizabeth Siddel
John Everett Millais


Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu