Poetry: Shakespeare?s ?Richard III?, Robert Browning Essay, Research Paper
The
three pieces of poetry I will be looking at, Shakespeare?s ?Richard III?,
Robert Browning?s ?My last Duchess? and W.H. Auden?s ?Victor? share the same
central relationship: the evilness and cruelty of their main characters. In
most cases, this is fuelled by the character’s jealousy, although all three
appear respectable when taken at face value. Each
piece of poetry differs in structure since they are from 3 different periods. ?Richard
III? is about a 15th century nobleman who murders his way to the
throne. We heard him speak in his soliloquy. The poetry is written in Blank
verse with ten syllable unrhymed lines. He expresses his thoughts out aloud.
Richard is totally explicit at all times and does not try and hide his evil
nature. ?My
last Duchess? deals with an evil 18th century Italian Aristocrat,
who speaks in the form of a dramatic monologue with rhyming couplets. He speaks
a servant about marrying his master?s daughter. He reveals his character in an
implicit way. ?Victor?
tells the story of a 20th Century man who turns psychopathic and
murders his wife when he finds out about her past. It is quite light-hearted
and humorous. It
is written in a form which reflects the traditional ballad in 4 line stanzas,
with every second line rhyming. It has a prominent regular rhyme and also a
very consistent rhythm. The Duke in ?My Last
Duchess? is shown as a formal, cold-hearted man who despised his late wife?s
joy in simple things. The duke speaks calmly throughout the poem, thus hiding
his true nature. He wanted the Duchess? respect though all he could see was her
pleasure from all around her. Even in then opening lines of ?My Last Duchess? we
begin to wonder what has happened to the duchess: ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?That?s my last duchess painted on the wall Looking as if she were alive??We can clearly see how the duke reveal his need to
show his power and control, and that he is indeed unnaturally possessive, since
he has the Duchess? painting behind a curtain: The painting is behind a curtain for his pleasure
only, for his eyes only, just as a wife should be. Now he has complete control.
By controlling who is able to view the painting, the
duke fulfils his need to exhibit his power: ??Since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for
you, but I?The Duke describes
how people are surprised by her seductive, passionate glance, and he gets very
jealous when people admire the painting. The
Duke goes on throughout the poem describing his wife in various attitudes. He
describes the way she poses for the portrait and the reader can sense his
jealousy over the way she is looking at the painter, FrÀ Pandolf. The Duke
gives the impression that he thinks his wife was having an affair. The Duke thought his wife should be for him and his
pleasures only. He did not like it when FrÀ
Pandolf, the artist who painted the portrait said: ?Paint ?Must never hope to reproduce the faint ?Half-flush that dies along her
throat."Even
though the Duke despised his wife, he chooses his words carefully. He is very
suggestive but does not let his guard down by giving any explicit information,
and again, his jealousy shines through:?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?Since
he is the Duke with the "nine-hundred-years-old name", he believes
that he must be shown great respect and be the centre of attention. Therefore,
he feels threatened by all the attention the duchess apparently received
everywhere she went; such as from the artist Pandolf or the "officious
fool" who brought her cherries. It seems her presence drew others’
attention away from the duke so that he did not have control of the situation. In
this way the duchess seemed to possess a type of power which was unacceptable
to the duke:"?all and each Would draw from her alike
the approving speech? Or blush, at least."He not only feels betrayed that "she liked
whate’er / She looked on, and her looks went everywhere", but he also
cannot tolerate that she seemed to treat everyone and every gift equally: ?She thanked men, – good! But thanked Somehow – I know not
how – as if she ranked My gift of a
nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody?s
gift.? ?The Duke reveals to
the reader that he never discussed his jealousy or feelings with his wife. He
never told her about the things that he disliked about her, as he thought that
this was stooping below his level: ??and I choose Never to stoop? As one of his possessions, the duke’s wife could
never be treated as his equalThe
duke reveals himself as a very self-centred, arrogant, egotistical man, who
preferred to remain distantly dissatisfied, rather than to try to remedy the
situation and put his unease at rest. He was a distant man with a cold
formality, disliking conversations. Even though she is now dead, the Duke likes
to think that he still has control of his late wife by hiding her behind a
curtain. He does this so that her glance doesn?t attract another men. Or
the fact that she smiled whenever he "passed her; but who passed without/
Much the same smile?" We assume the Duke
orders the death of his wife, though he again hides the true meaning in his
words. In the following quote, the duke seems more evil and threatening to the
reader because suggesting what he did is more frightening than saying it. He is
very implicit: ??This grew; I gave
commands; Then all smiles
stopped together.? Indeed,
he seems to be more of a ?woman collector? in the way that he collects art, as
he sets his sights on the daughter of the Count: ?Though his fair daughter?s self, as I
avowed At starting, is my
object? This word ?object?,
while it means ?aim?, also shows that the Duke wants to add this woman to his
collection – almost like a piece of art. In the same breath,
he draws his guest?s attention to his latest acquisition – a new bronze in the
shape of Neptune, the mythical Roman god of the sea, taming a sea horse. This
is also very suggestive, as the duke reveals he wants to be powerful like
Neptune and his new wife to be the sea horse.Browning
deliberately uses 3 very harsh ?k? sounds in the last line. They bring out the
cruelty in the Duke?s character, and almost resembles large iron doors closing,
as if they were trapping the new wife in with the Duke:?Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!?The
fact that the last word is ?me? is very significant as it re-enforces the
Duke?s egotism and self-centredness.It
is my opinion that Shakespeare wanted to reflect the medieval idea that an evil
mind must dwell in an evil body, and he reflects Richard?s evilness very
cleverly through his poetry. He uses a soliloquy because it is a great poetic
device to reveal characters, as Richard speaks his thoughts out aloud to us. He
is a man who seems devoid of feelings and he reveals himself immediately to the
audience, so we soon find out he is ruthless and totally arrogant:?And therefore, since I
cannot prove a lover To entertain these fair
well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a
villain?? ?I that am curtailed of this
fair proportion, Cheated of feature by
dissembling nature??The
entire soliloquy is based on a series of contrast such as war and peace,
softness and hardness and masculinity and femininity:?Now is the winter of our
discontent Made glorious summer by this
sun of York?? ?To fright the souls of
fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady?s
chamber?? In
the lines above Shakespeare has used harsh sounds to suggest the harshness and
pain of war. Shakespeare
uses alliteration to reinforce the meaning of these contrasting ideas, creating
and evil and ruthless effect: ??In the deep bosom of the
ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with
victorious wreaths??Shakespeare
uses the ?b? sound to bring out the harshness by creating manly, muscular
language. On
the other hand the harsh ?b? sounds are contrasted with soft feminine sounds
using the letter ?l?: ??to
the lascivious pleasing of a lute.? Shakespeare
also uses Metaphors to bring out meaning: ?Grim-visaged
war has smoothed his wrinkled front? It
is obvious that Richard enjoyed the harsh times and has contempt for peace and
love:?But I, that am not shaped
for sportive tricks Nor made to court an amorous
looking glass? ?Why I, in this weak piping
time of peace, Have no delight to pass away
the time.?From
these quotes and many more we appreciate the repetitious use of ?I?; suggesting
Richard?s self-obsession, which re-enforces his bitterness at his own
deformity:?Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinished, sent
before my time Into this
breathing world, scarce half made up-?Shakespeare
uses many metaphors to describe Richard?s deformity: ?curtailed?,
?rudely stamped?, ?unfinished?, ? cheated of feature?, and ?sent before my
time? are just some of them. Richard
reveals his barefaced evil character to the audience and uses contrasts between
his evil and King Edward?s noble character:?Plots have I laid, inductions
dangerous?? ?And if King Edward be as
true and just As I am subtle, false and
treacherous??The
last part of Richard?s Soliloquy reinforces his evil character, when he says as
Clarence approaches him: ?Dive thoughts,
down to my soul ? here Clarence comes!?This
line suggests that Richard?s soul is already in hell, by his use of ?down to my
soul? if we go by the typical belief that hell is below and heaven is above. Richard
III is an excellent example of how Shakespeare uses alliteration, metaphors,
and contrasts in Richard?s soliloquy to successfully bring out Richard?s evil
character and his traits of selfishness and lust for power.?Victor?
is a very modern poem, written as a parody of a traditional ballad. The main
character Victor, is a young man who, like the Duke of Ferrara murders his wife
after becoming insanely jealous in this darkly comic poem, however Victor is
different in a very important way. Instead of painting a truly evil character
like Shakespeare and Browning do, Auden provides a background which tries to
explain the psychology behind Victors actions, this background being his
childhood. We do not see Victor as an outright evil character, but more as a
victim of society and of his father?s religious indoctrination, and we almost
feel sorry for him. As the poem opens, the narrator tells the story of Victor and we can
immediately see he is brought up in a strict religious way and that his father
had a strong influence on him when he becomes older:?His father took a bible from his pocket and read ?Blessed
are the pure in heart.? ? ??climbed
up into bed, took his bible and read Of
what happened to Jezebel? We
can see throughout the start of the poem that Victor was over-protected and
sheltered from life. This is apparent when he grows up and what people say
about him:??Victor?s
a decent fellow but He?s
too mousey to go far.?Because
of his bringing up, Victor is innocent of the world and very inexperienced with
women. One day he meets a woman called Anna, a very experienced and glamorous
blonde girl:?Victor
met her upon the stairs And
fell in love with her.?However
when Victor finds out about her sexual past after marrying her, he cannot
handle it and has a breakdown, becoming a psychopath. In the end, everywhere he
turns he can hear his father?s authoritative voice commanding him to kill his
wife:?He
came to the allotments and the rubbish heap; And
his tears came tumbling down????O
Father, what shall I do?? And
the river answered; ?Kill?.?I
have really enjoyed all the pieces of poetry, but I specially enjoyed the evil
character in ?My Last Duchess? because of?
its ambiguity; it just makes you want to read it again and again. The
Duke is a very threatening character and he sounds much more so by suggesting
what he does than actually saying it.