The Importance of Being Earnest

Finally something that is not dark themed and gloomy! (Excluding Alice and Wonderland of course).

I really like Oscar Wilde’s writing style, and enjoy reading his work. This was also not my first time to read The Importance of Being Earnest, and probably not the last. My favorite part is the muffin scene.  In general I find the play to be very lighthearted and funny (which was probably one goal for the play).  I think Oscar Wilde’s main goal, however, was to make a satire of Victorian society, even the title of the play serves a mocking paradox and joke. Both the name “Earnest” (which was popular and thought to be given to respectable men) and the act of being earnest (grim/humorless nowadays; jumping between social classes in Victorian days) are used to mock the traditions and customs, along with courtship and marriage. All of the characters are over the top in some way or another and represent some value of Victorian society as well. For example, Lady Bracknell embodies all rules and social rituals. She is very materialistic and locks onto even the smallest/ most unimportant details of Jack and his back ground. Gwendolen and Cecily also both represent the purist of love and marriage as different angles. The men both follow the customs of courtship too, but their actions are extremely ridiculous and over the top. Cecily’s medieval romance fantasies also further fuel and point out the fascination the Victorian society had with medieval poems, stories, and art. Victorian society is clearly being mocked, and I think that is what makes each character so funny and the story lighthearted.  This play is defiantly a hit for me. 

In Order to Get Anywhere, You Must First Know Where You Are Going

The discussion in class about looking at Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a commentary really got me thinking since I had never looked at that story in such a way. Last night I had the epiphany that Carroll's critiques of the British government is just as relevant to today's society as it was then.

I primarily want to focus on the encounter between the Cheshire cat and Alice. When Alice asks which road she should take, the Cheshire cat responds by asking her where she is going. When she states that she doesn't know, he says "well if you don't know your destination, than any road will do."

This is a great example of how our society acts today. We tend not to actually think through what we are doing and just sort of go with the flow and take what our media tells us as fact. So much so that I think at some point, people forget what their original ambitions were. They have no idea of where they are going and therefore don't have an accurate plan of getting there. To many people forget to use their head when they're deciding what they are doing through life. That can be a dangerous thing and lead to some very bad things happening in society.

 “You just go where your high-top sneakers sneak, and don't forget to use your head.”

the nonsensical nonsense known as Alice

Alice in Wonderland is a part of many people's childhood. I know it was a big part of mine. I can still remember watching the film and reading the book and wanting to be Alice. In fact, I was even her for Halloween one year. She was my hero, my idol, etc, as I'm sure she was for other little girls. Honestly, Alice is still kind of my hero and the inspiration she gives me probably means that I will always be a kid at heart, which is 100% fine by me. Alice is an icon, I can get a mental image of her immediatly, although it's from the disney cartoon which I was more influenced by growing up (my family wasn't much for story time.) When watching the film or reading the book I always felt as if I was going on the journey with Alice. I got to be her shadow, and wanted too be the tweedle dee to her tweedle dum, best friends. Looking back I probably grew with her as she journey through Wondeland learning lessons. Methaphorically of course, I didn't flood anyone's house with my tears. I wanted to be with Alice and adventure through Wonderland and experience the magic, the vivid colors, the creatures, etc of a land I could only read about. That's what I find to be one of the best things about Victorian children's literature, which hit it's stride with Alice and brought about books such as Peter Pan. When reading these books you get to have that moment, even if it's brief, where you get to go to Wonderland, Neverland, or any other land and you get to be a kid again. As the book closes and Alice or Wendy decides that it might be time to grow up you are transported back to real life and into your big kid body. By experiencing the lands through these books you can also experience them on your own in your imagination. Hey, I've been to Wonderland once, why can't I go back on my own time? These lands help you remain a kid at heart, proving that you never have to grow up. You can always return to being a kid when you go back to the lands of your childhood.

A forsaken love

Matthew Arnold's Forsaken Merman has a lot going on. It reminds me of an ocean itself. On the surface there's a story of a merman falling in love with a human woman and her birthing his children then leaving him on Easter. What?? But if you look deeper you see the confliction between love and religion. The merman becomes increasingly depressing as the poem goes on yet still loves this woman. She, on the other hand, doesn't quite reveal her motives as to why she leaves the land for a merman and then decides to return due to hearing the church bells. Was religion that important to her? Or did she never love him at all? Or maybe the sea was too much of a difference from the civilization on land? All of these questions played in my head. Another thing that struck me was the influence of music in this poem. The children's voices, the Murmansk repetition of down, down, down and dear children and the church bells are all very influential to the melancholy atmosphere the poem draws on.

The comforting lake

In The Lake Isle of Innisfree the author seems to believe his true peace comes from nature. The author seems to believe his happiness will come by living alone and having no worries or responsinilities. He describes his plans, and they sound so blan and boring, but none the less it is what the author desires. By living with the contributions made by mother nature results in a type of relaxation the author deeply desires. By using such imagery the author is able to paint a picture of relaxation also.

Ugly Goblins

Reading the Goblin Market I thought of horribly twisted and deformed creatures with crackling voices. The Oxford English Dictionary describes them as mischievous, ugly, dwarf-like creatures and they are usually portrayed as such in fantasy literature. The poem describes them having animal faces which in my mind only added to the horror. However I was surprised to see the illustration on Monday. They were so adorable, the little cat guy was even wearing a precious tiny suit! It is far off from the Tolkien representation most of us are use to. I took this more in the economic reading of Goblin Market. All the exotic fruits were perhaps a criticism on consumerism. The vast selection of these exotic fruits, who would want to eat ordinary and simple fruits that could be found locally. When presented with novelty it is difficult to settle for what you already have. The reason these goblins are so cute is to glamorize what you wish you had and not what is readily available, it is an easy sell. Someone is not questioning their own motives when the source is rather pleasant.  However cute as they may be the Goblins are still dangerous and will kick your ass if you refuse them. This is an important principle capitalism, to keep you wanting more and never be completely satisfied with what you have. 

                                                      

 

                                               "come buy, come buy!"

The (Temporarily) Forsaken Garden

Swinbourne's "The Forsaken Garden" is wrought with decaying imagery that would lead one to believe the poem is about death, but I think its about time. To me, the poem is about life continuing on and that "death lies dead." The lines that end each stanza speak of the continuance of the sea and the passage of years and days. The end of the first stanza says "Now lie dead," instead of "Now is dead." The weeds that once grew are lying dead, which could still imply some sort of action taking place, even if that action is death.

Imagery of the wind, rain, and sun bearing down on the garden only reinforces that time and life go on, even with decay and death. The second to last stanza states, "Earth, stones, and thorns of the wild ground growing/ While the sun and the rain live, these shall be," indicating the continuity of life. Even through destruction, there are new beginnings. Time has destroyed the garden, but only temporarily because from time's "self-slain" hand, it brings both decay and life.

Yeats

 "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats feels like an appreciation for the solitary life style. In a sense, the cabin that he describes could be a literal place he goes to for hibernation, or it could be a figurative place in his mind. He wants to "live alone in the bee-loud glade", to which the "bee-loud glade" might represent his own thoughts. Yeats seems take the sounds and images of this place where ever he goes, saying, "I hear the lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; / While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey". I'm wondering if this version of solitude that Yeats presents contrasts to Mathew Arnold's depiction of being alone in "The Forsaken Merman". Where as Arnold's character ends up engulfed in the sea, Yeats makes it seem peaceful and comforting, like something good can come out of it.

A Forsaken Garden: What Is Left

In reading Algernon (not the mouse) Charles Swinburne's A Forsaken Garden, there are quite a few images with thematic attachments to nature. The metaphor of the rose garden and the ocean wind are constant throughout the poem, working to focus the reader not on what is there, but what is left over. I can sense some sort of allegory in this poem, focusing on social issues of some kind, but the specificity is what eludes me. There are a flood of images that imply that some large event has happened and because of this the poem carries a sense of rebuilding or focusing on the pieces that were not taken. War immediately comes to mind.

In the first stanza, Swinburne write of "the blossomless bed/where the weeds that grew green from the graves of its roses/now lie dead" implying that there used to be flowers in the bed, which then died from the growing of the weeds, which then died and now we are left with nothingness. Death is emphasized strongly but mostly  in that living people are no longer present in the garden. A religious reading of the text might suggest that it is the Garden of Eden, no longer habitable to any human since the days of Adam and Eve. "Here there was laughing of old, there was weeping/haply, of lovers none will ever know/whose eyes went seaward a hundred sleeping/year ago." This stanza focuses mostly on the human emotion that used to enliven the garden and the fact that there is nothing left implies that they either went seaward or just simply died out. The allegory for the sea could be represented by the unknown and that when man "looked forth from the flowers to the sea" he went in search of the unknown and left the sanctuary of the Garden, thus betraying God and leaving the garden empty and barren.

Goblin Empire

One of our readings for Monday was The” Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti. In this reading I saw a number of passages that show a metaphorical relation the British Empire. To be more specific about this the passages describing the different fruits and the fact that they are sold in no town from here. Many of the fruits being described were not fruits that were grown in England and a few were not grown in Europe at all. The passage also says it is not known on what soil the fruit is grown, a metaphor for foreign lands.

                I think Rossetti used the goblins as a metaphor for the agents of the East India Company or other agents of empire who went forth to conquer far off lands and bring back the resources and goods from those places. I think if we look at the poem in relation to or as a commentary on the Empire we can see Rossetti taking a negative view of how things were going. Perhaps this may be a stretch but I could see her making something of a prophecy that would come true later. This prophecy would be the eventual turning on the empire by her colonies. The passage that best describes this is when Lizzie is beaten up by the goblin men for not wanting to partake of their wares but take them back to her sister showing that eventually one must pay for the actions that have been done, regardless of whether or not those in the position of power committed the crimes. The picture below has nothing to do with the story but I thought they were funny.

The Lake Isle of "Ijustwannabefree"

I believe that Yeats's "The lake Isle of Innisfree" condemns the chaos found in industrialized cities and instead advocates a return to nature.  Something has been lost by the culture of humanity due to rapid industrialization, and Yeats clearly believes that the answer can be found away from it all.  He claims to intend to move to a small island, as disconnected from industrialization as a person could likely get at that time.  There is nothing negative to be said about the island he intends to move to, as even the bee-infested glades inspire serenity in Yeats as he longs to be away from the city.

The cities themselves barely receive a mention in the poem.  The roadways of the city are briefly mentioned, and even when they are, they are described as grey and almost boring.  With all of the praise Yeats gives seclusion, it is hard to imagine grey roads leading anywhere but an unhappy place.  Even before this time period, nature had long been in the process of being forgotten.  Then, people were more concerned with material things rather than appreciate what was around them.  Yeats, however, reminds us that humans were intended to live alongside nature, and that we should never allow it to escape our grasp. 

Forbidden Fruits: Just Say No

I must admit that it took several times to read through Rosetti's "Goblin Market" to read into the story beyond a Fairy Tale or Biblical allegory. Let's face it, by now women should learn to NOT accept fruit from strangers. It never goes well. The story draws similarities to Eve, Mary Magdalene, Hansel and Gretel, etc. We covered most of this in Monday's class.

The element of the story that I found difficult to parallel to any other text but the idea of Lizzie making Laura eat the fruit from her flesh. It has been considered feminist and even homoerotic. While Laura is the fallen woman that is easily swayed and becomes the victim of addiction, Lizzie personifies the light, or good, qualities of a person, manifesting the archetypes ranging from the Christlike martyr to the virgin that survives a slasher movie. They seem to be yin and yang, as portrayed by the way they sleep in each others' arms as if in the womb, meshed together as if one person. While I can see how it is a feminist text due to a woman saving another woman rather than a Prince Charming or Jesus Christ coming in to save them from their sins, I think it reflects the battling sides of a person such as the darkness that is susceptible to greed, temptation, and addiction. But on the flip side, that darkness is conquered by resistance and conviction and the light and dark must battle and feed off each other to be a whole person.

Goblin Market and Female Strength

When reading Goblin Market, I felt as if the poem had overtones of female empowerment. The relationship of Lizzie and Laura could be interpreted as erotic due to word choices but the fundamental nature of their relationship is that of sisters who support each other. When the poem describes them sleeping next to one another, they are painted as innocent and at total peace with the world. While they are together, they are untouchable and all is good.
I found it interesting that men do not make an appearance in the poem except when the goblins are being described - Rossetti refers to them as "goblin men" who the girls should stay away from. The fruit that they sell Lizzie is possibly a metaphor for the dominant and often abusive nature of masculine love that was accepted at the time. Lizzie indulges on the fruits and becomes hooked on it even though it is clearly self-destructive. The goblins forcing Laura to consume their fruit against her will could very well be a metaphor for violence against women. By the end of the poem, both women have fallen victim to the evil of "goblin men" which causes them to once again find comfort in one another.

Deeper into the Goblin Market

I enjoyed reading Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti, but I felt my first reading was too straightforward. I saw the poem as strictly allegorical with strong Christian themes, as it almost seems a reenactment of the scene with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. With its heavy description and deep narrative, I found it a strong allegory, but I wanted to learn about some other reading perspectives to delve deeper into the richness of the poem. When searching for other interpretations of Goblin Market, I came across a helpful article on Poetry Foundation that provided a few different readings, such as the psychoanalytic interpretations of the poem’s sexual elements and the Marxist criticism of separation of domestic and commercial spheres. If anyone is interested in reading these, you can find them embedded in this biography: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/christina-rossetti

Dismantling the Patriarchy sans merci

After reading both versions of Keats' work, I find that I prefer the draft version over his published one. 'Knight-at-arms' just strikes a chord better than 'wight'. Plus, I find that the imagery comes easier in the first version of the poem. Incorporating the titles, 'sans merci' means without pity whereas 'sans mercy' is simply without mercy. Both phrases are ripe with meaning, but 'without pity' just appeals to me greater than 'without mercy'. In the draft, Keats has the knight-at-arms making the woman a flower crown, bracelets, and a zone before he is consumed by her power; it's his attempt to quell a wild woman and confine her to fit his needs within the patriarchy. Historically, the Victorian era bound women both by its social propriety and its fashions. I like that this woman with 'wild eyes', is still able to entrance a seemingly misogynistic man after his attempts to ensnare her.  It shows her command of faculties and refusal to give up her personal power, or agency. I find it both captivating and terrifying, but in the best sort of way; as if I too, are under this faery queen's spell. It reminds me of my favorite archetype in literature: disciples that love their god too much. For there is nothing crueler than being loved by something divine made flesh and blood.

Chivalry or Enchantment?

We discussed the two different versions of the John Keats poem in class. Within the two drafts of the poem, "La Belle Dame sans Mercy," we see a distinct shift in the power of the woman in the poem. In the first draft, the knight is immediately overcome with emotion for this woman. He makes her garlands of flowers, then sets her on the horse, where she sings to him. In the second draft of the poem, he first places her on the horse, then makes her garlands after she sings to him.  This small shift at first appears unimportant, but it changes her agency within the rest of the poem. Within the second poem, he seems to be initially trying to help her, and she puts him into a trance with her songs. However, in the first version, he is immediately entranced and the effect of putting her on the horse becomes merely symbolic of the pedestal he has already placed her on. He places her above himself literally to show how he is entranced by her symbolically.  The line, "And nothing else saw all day long," shows that his whole world has become focused and consumed by her. Again, the placement of this stanza changes the context within the poem in the same way.  At the end of the poem, the first draft states "And there she lulled me asleep." This again gives the woman more agency. She makes him sleep, rather than in the second version where "we slumber'd on the moss." This gives her less power over him, and makes her less ethereal and more real.

Complex or Hypocracy?

   It seems odd to me that in an era marked in part by the resurgence of chivalry, that there be such a discrepancy on how to deal with the agency of women. The Lady of Shalot is left with the the task of weaving, using her mirror both for her work and to see the world. These things are distinctly feminine and all is well for her as long as she continues her "women's work". It is not until she leaves her work and the tower to serve her own purposes that she is is cast down and killed by the curse. Aside from whatever commentary this may have about creating art or industrialism, this acts a "lesson" for how women should behave, "If you leave your station in life this is what will happen to you".
   In My Last Duchess, the women in question is held as a on the wall. The late duchess is his example of how he deals with women that won't obey or appreciate him. This is even more heavy handed because the duke directly takes the life of the duchess who leaves him. What's even more disparaging here is that the Duke is in the middle of dowry discussion, which shows that Duchess for him are easily replaced. His choice of art in the statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse simply furthers this.
    The difference between the two views here on the agency of women, is that Browning's poem could be seen ostensibly as a way of bringing this negative view on female agency into light for criticism, while Tennyson seems to have simply used it as a metaphor. I don't know for certain what Tennyson's take on women's agency was, but the way he uses it here implies that he sees it as a fact of life. Even if one tries to see the Lady of Shalot as bringing the problem into light the way Duchess does it still seems just like a idea thrown in with everything else he wanted to say. Though this may just be a vented frustration of mine, to me it hardly seems to even call out chivalry's name.

The Lady of Domestication

On Monday our group, when discussing The Lady of Shallot, talked about its references toward women in the Victorian society. We concluded that the act of her weaving represented a mundane place where women resided, this place being the home and womanly domestication. The mirror represented, to us at least, a skewed view of society. This skewed view helped keep "The Lady of Shallot" in “her place”, as well as the fear of a curse. The curse was a sort of warning to women in general, that leaving their post of domestication would result in disastrous repercussions. However, when Lancelot comes into her mirror in shining armor, we see the Lady of Shallot forsake her post and gaze at this man. It was at this point when our group realized the wording of the poem changed, before this romantic natural words were used, after the words became more metallic just like the armor of Sir Lancelot. It wasn't until her eventual death that the words reverted back to the romantic natural words. In regards to the pictures we discussed on the way in which she sat on her tapestry and allowed it to dip into the murky water. Perhaps this symbolized defiance of her former life before seeing Lancelot. She had spent every day looking through this mirror and weaving this tapestry, then when the curse befell her it provided a new life to be opened up, cursed or not, causing her to forsake the former and take the boat to journey into the new. 

I love this rendition of the poem and the pictures are great!

Duke, you silver tongued devil you

"... Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together..."

I found Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" to be an enticing poem, as it engages its readers on a number of levels - on a psychological and historical level among many. Quite noticeably on a psychological level because we only get the duke's thoughts. We have to piece together the story ourselves. The author forces its readers to become involved with the poem, so we can get a clear understanding of it, which makes it all the more fun.

The most fascinating element of the poem is the duke character, who is also the speaker. He lures his readers with his charming qualities and wonderful use of language. However, he has a monstrous side and an excessive demand for control. The biggest example of this is when duke has his wife murdered because she couldn't save her flirtatious glances for the him. "... I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together..." This is an interesting choice of words to describe the death of the duchess. It's not quite as dark as one expect it would be. It's as if the duke is trying to avoid the truth.

Art and Poetry

During class the other day we looked at two John Waterhouse paintings in which he shows imagery that portrays scenes in the poem. We looked at two very different images that are actually by the same painter. They also matched up with two different parts of the poem.

Unlike the second image, this image does not correspond with a particular stanza in the poem. I feel like it is a much more general painting. It is interesting that his technique differs so much from the other painting. In this one his brush strokes are tight and he appears to be using the rules of the salon to paint this. This image might be painted so clearly because this is after she has made her decision to die. The future is clear for her and she knows what she wants her fate to be. 

This painting, also by Waterhouse is radically different.The painting appears to be painted in a much more impressionistic style. Large brush strokes and bold colors. All of the lines appear to be blurred and it shows the madness that comes across in the second part of the poem. 

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
   To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
   The Lady of Shalott.

In this piece there are white lines surrounding her, between that and her crouched position I imagine this painting is her captured in her web. The artist might have interpreted the web to be more physical than metaphorical. Or maybe, he was trying to show the metaphorical web in a more physical way. Either way, I feel that this piece is much more expressive and visually interesting.

Looking at someone's artistic interpretation of a poem can be a slightly difficult process in my opinion. You have to take the artist's opinion into consideration, and also be able to form your own opinions independently and not be too influenced by what someone else has chosen to portray. Waterhouse's two images show that even he had very different interpretations of the different parts of the poem. I feel that this fact shows that poetry is very open to interpretation, depending on the reader.

Lilies and Roses

An interesting element that I found about this poem is the relation of the structure to the Belle Dame.  The ballad seems to have a slow flow to it that kind of mesmerizes the reader along with the Knight.  Like some of the other ballads we’ve read in class, the Belle Dame is very simplistic and straightforward; however, from the technical aspect these elements work with the poem to create a kind of ambiance.  Due to the vagueness of details, we feel that some details are kind of strange and hazy—like when he describes the Belle Dame as being a “fairy child.”  The Knight describes the woman as if putting her on a pedestal.  I feel that the lack of detail and overall, hazy and dreamlike descriptions are a representation of the Knight coping with and surrendering to death.  The Belle Dame could be a symbol for death.  When the Knight’s appearance was described using two flowers; the lily, a symbol for death, and a rose that is “fading” quickly I thought immediately of a woman.  She seems to be described with the feminine likeness of a flower, but then I thought about how the roles of dominance switch.  When the Belle Dame goes from holding a position of submission to one of dominance it is because the Knight gives it to her.  This can be seen a him surrendering himself to his eminent death.

A Monologue

My first reading of My Last Duchess by Robert Browning was somewhat confusing. I didn't really know the rhythm of the poem, I just knew that each sentence ended in rhymed couplets. The pattern indicates, a a, b b, c c, etc.,  but other than that I did not know how to read the poem all to well. I kept shortening and elongating certain parts, especially with the constant semicolons. It wasn't until I researched the poem on Poets.org and listened to the reading by Richard Howard. I noticed he read it more as a monologue for a play or somewhat of a short story. I really like his reading because of the intensity that he puts within the poem. He elongates where needed and made it feel as if it were a story. He starts off slow but towards the end he speeds up and raises his volume as if it were a climax in the poem. I really appreciated his version, but to be honest I have no other version to go off of. For now this is the version that I prefer. As far as the story goes, I believe that the Duke hid the portrait of the duchess out of jealousy. She was once a flirtatious woman, and that displeased him very much. Now he is allowed to have her all to himself, no longer can she flirt with men but he must have her hidden since she is still beautiful enough to gaze at.

I dont really know how to add just the clip of Richard Howard reading so I provided the link below.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15701

After Death

As I was reading “After Death” by Christina Rossetti, my brain couldn't help but paint a picture of who these two people in the poem were, and what exactly their story was. It is clear from reading the poem that the narrator has just died, and she is speaking this poem once she is already dead. She is describing the surroundings of where her dead body lay and how the man that is mourning her death is reacting. The way the narrator was describing the man gave me the impression that he was either her past lover or husband. Either way, it made me think that they once had a romance that tragically faded or ended. Maybe the man left her for another woman or because he just didn't love her anymore, or maybe they were still married and up until she died their marriage had grown cold. She mentions that although he did not love her while she was living; he pitied her once she was dead and it was sweet knowing that he was still warm even though she was cold. I interpreted this part of the poem to be saying that although she is dead and her body is physically cold, it brought her some happiness knowing that the cold heart of this man that she knew so well had now grown a little warmer at the sight of her dead body. Maybe it took the narrators death for him to show a little warmth and emotion. It ends the poem with a sense of hope that the woman’s death was not in vain. Her death may be the coming alive of this unknown man. 

And Behind Curtain #1.... Poison!

I really was not too sure what to think when I read My Last Duchess. The rhythm took me a minute to get use to (at first if felt a little contrived and ridged), but after a few lines that minor detour went away. It also took me a minute to figure out that this duke was talking to not only a group of people, but also his future father-in-law about his last wife. After figuring out who the duke was speaking to, I felt like it was much easier to see a type of story come together. The captions that are in my book let the reader know that the speaker of My Last Duchess is modeled on Alfonso II (Duke of Ferrara) who married Lucrezia de Medici when she was fourteen years old in 1558. She died about three years later, and the cause of death was speculated to be poison. The duke remarried in 1565. I felt like this information also allowed a story to unfold. When I re-read the poem, I started to wonder if maybe it was the duke who poisoned her. The fact that he keeps her picture behind a curtain, and only he is allowed to open the curtain, is what made me intentionally slightly suspicious of the thought. I also felt like the way I felt she was being described was as being a major flirt. The way the duke talks about her makes me think she flirted A LOT, maybe even had an affair or two. There is a motive right there: an unfaithful wife. Well, it is safe to say she certainly is only smiling for dear ol’ hubby now! An indirect confession scene is the picture that this poem painted for me. I think that this is a very interesting poem, and I enjoyed reading it.  

Porphyria's Lover: Mad, or Merciful?

It seems mostly adequate, upon critical reflection, to conclude that Porphyria's Lover commits this murder by the craze of his mind; however, I feel that it is unjust to assume that madness is the narrator's primary motivation. Browning's biography makes us aware of the suggested intent behind his writing, claiming "the impossibility of ever finding a coherent or truthful narrative and the importance of recognizing the relativity of points of view"(711).  In light of this, I hope within my interpretation to contend with conventional morality's claim that murder is unanimously unjustified.

The foundation for my interpretation lies in accepting that the female character's name is an allusion to porphyria as a rare disorder that relentlessly poisons both the body and mind. In other words, porphyria is Porphyria's affliction.  It is that which defines death as her "utmost will".
It is the lack of dialogue and indifference within the voice of the narrator that seems to render him a bit unaffected by having murdered his love, but it is through the action of the poem that the narrator's truly grievous sentiments become clear. The reader is throughout the poem made aware of the narrator's love for Porphyria. He lies nestled against her shoulder, consumed by her flowing yellow hair, as if aching to be one with her.  Representative of his conflicted feelings, he strangles Porphyria with the very hair he so adores, because he, in that very moment, realizes its effectiveness in accomplishing what they are both aching for:  the severance of her soul from the wicked, earthly pains of her affliction.  He vanquishes not only Porphyria's life but also her suffering, and in doing so has committed a most pristine act of love.  In the aftermath of the fateful moment, the two lovers sit motionless together throughout the night, the lingering airs of deep affection hung still over the scene:

"And thus we sit together now,
And all night long we have not stirred"


What are your thoughts?  Which of the narrator's motivations do you feel are most significant: madness, mercy, or something different entirely?  Am I misled in assuming that mercy by euthanasia justifies Porphyria's murder?

The Buried Life

Matthew Arnold's The Buried Life is such an incredible poem, with a subject that is able to last through the ages. When I interpreted this poem, I understood that it is about the difficulty and the desire to understand and become our true selves. I believe Matthew Arnold is trying to achieve an understanding of self acceptance that is so hidden and makes us so insecure that even our closest loved ones don't see it because even us, ourselves haven't accepted it.
"Alas! is even love too weak
To unlock the heart, and let it speak?
Are even lovers powerless to reveal
To one another what indeed they feel?"
The reason I feel this poem, this line especially, are able to speak to generations through out the ages is the human need for accpetance. Anyone from teens to middle aged people want to accepted by their surrounding peers, whether it be at work, school or in your social groups. The burying of what we see as flaws, and the hidden quirks and things that make us individuals, is not how our lives should be lived. I think Arnold is trying to get us to break free of the chains of insecurity that bury our lives because of fear, and in a sense, "let our freak flags fly".

Cry of the Children

Browning's Cry of the Children comes in an era where child labor is exponentially increasing alongside the Industrial Revoluation. Before, children would work on farms or in shops, but with technology growth, they started to work in factories instead as cheap labor. The urging for working children to "go out, children, from the mine and from the city" and play in the meadows presents the dichotmy of a society once agricultural, now industrial. Youth and life are associated with nature while the cold metal of machines are associated with death. The poem is not only drawing attention to the ghastly conditions of child labor, but also to the shift from nature to machine.

Cry of the Children draws attention to the conditions of child labor, forcing the audience to question society's role in taking away children's innocence. The poem blatantly describes the jaded and hopeless attitudes working children have toward death, God, and life. The ending lines say, "But a child's sob in the silence curses deeper/ Than the strong man in his wrath," indicating that though they are young and unwise, the pain a child endures can be more powerful than the petty vengences of a man. Children have raw emotion due to their inexperience, so they do not understand their pain as much as an adult does, but can feel it deeper than adults. Browning's poem calls for protection for the children and questions the morality of a society that uses children as another stepping stone toward power.

Hopelessness, Pride, or Animosity?

In West London, Arnold describes a coldness toward the rich and an interesting camaraderie between the poor. The “tramp” in West London sends her daughter after local workmen to beg, and the little girl returns “satisfied.” However, when rich people pass by, the woman lets them “pass with frozen stare.” I think there are a few reasons she might have done this. Arnold states “She will not ask of aliens, but of friends, Of sharers in a common human fate,” but he does not extensively describe the woman’s reason for this.  It seems most likely that the woman believes she and her children will have better luck begging from people who understand their condition than from the rich, who have no knowledge of the poor’s suffering. But I wonder if it is hopelessness, pride, or animosity that prevents the woman from begging the rich. She may know from experience that the rich will not help her, or she may not want to grovel at the feet of someone who looks at her as if she is the alien. The “frozen stare” she gives them may also imply her contempt for the selfish upper class, or even terror at the power they possess. Even if knowing the woman’s motivations is not key in understanding Arnold’s point in the poem, I am still curious to hear what others think about this.

More Children Crying?

In Matthew Arnold's "West London," he briefly describes a simple but saddening moment in which a young girl is sent out by her mother to beg. It is more than likely that the little girl was sent to do it because fewer people could turn away a starving young girl (however the woman did have a baby with her). Arnold observes that the girl doesn't try to get money or food from the rich and instead lets them pass and stare at her. This is most likely because the girl doesn't expect the rich to help her but they don't feel the need to. Other people in her class are more inclined to sympathize despite being in a harsh situation themselves. Arnold is clearly very critical of the rich person in this scene when he states that the person "attends the unknown little from the unknowing great, and points us to a better time than ours." This tone shows that Arnold knows that the rich think of the poor as 'unknown' and they are unaware that their own circumstance is much more fortunate than they realize. The poem provides simple but powerful social commentary reflecting the ignorance of the upperclass and the fact that the poor are aware of this ignorance and have given up trying to expect any help from them.

The Tone of the Times

I noticed a lot of similarities between Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "The Cry of the Children" and other publications of the Victorian era, particularly in their tone and the overall mood they create. For instance, Charles Dickens's "A Walk in the Workhouse," an essay written during the Victorian era, was very similar to Browning's poem in more ways than one. Both have what we would today consider an over the top depressing mood. The children in both poems want to die, which just seems like they're laying it on thick. In "The Cry of the Children," the fourth stanza shows a small child saying "It is good when it happens...That we die before our time," and in "A Walk in the Workhouse" you've got a nearly identical scene where the narrator comments about how a "morsel of burnt child, lying in another room...thought it best, perhaps, all things considered, that he should die." In this day and age, it's hard to even imagine children choosing death over life. The concept seems to repulse us. But I wonder if that's a consequence of the times or if it's just because we live in an affluent country? A hundred years from now, I wonder what people will think about what we consider "modern" and "postmodern" literature? Will they think it's just as over the top as the Victorian era literature we're reading now?

In poverty, hunger, and dirt

The tired and dehumanized woman in Hood’s poem is a clear illustration of what industrialized life does to a person. Between her harsh and seemingly endless ‘work-work-work’ she thinks fondly on the sky and flowers. However she only briefly enjoys this daydream as she must ‘stitch! stitch! stitch!’ Her meager mans barely allowing for her most basic necessities. This kind of life was described in Marx’s theory of alienation.  Simply put, alienation occurs in socially stratified societies as a direct result of workers being disconnected from their humanity as they are a simple part of a large machine. Hood’s worker lacks autonomy because she is directed and basically property of those who own the means of production. Beyond just being physically tired, it is draining on the soul. The ‘work-work-work’ pounds in the head and constantly interrupts the thoughts and feelings of Hood’s worker. When I read the poem I almost instantly thought of Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” which deals with the dehumanizing nature of the capitalist mode of production. Below is just a short clip, however the film in its entirety is available on Youtube.

The Buried LIfe

When reading this poem, I think it's important to not the historical context in which the poem was written.  During the Victorian era, there was an geographical shift in labor.  More and more people were leaving farms and going to work in factories.  Many thought of this as losing a connection to nature.  on line 47:

"There rises an unspeakable desire"

Here he is establishing that there is something that all people desire.  This something is so universal that every single human being desires it, but it cannot be named.  It has to be referring to societies disconnect with nature.  The word choice is also very interesting.  Unspeakable, which if you think of the definition, means that the speaker is unable to even comprehend the proper words to express this desire.   This idea is reinforced by line 48:

"After Knowledge of our buried life;"

The title of the poem is in this line, I feel like it is talking about the fact that all of us recognize that we have some intimate connection with something beyond the normal constraints of ours societies demands and expectations.  The unspeakable desire is to drop the responsibilities we hold and return to nature.  However, after rereading the poem I feel like this has a much deeper meaning.  The things which we toil and strive for are not the things that truly make us happy.  Rational thought would suggest that I should pick the best things in my life if  happiness is what is rationally the goal of my decisions.  However when another medium of exchange is  introduced, things become complicated.  Money buys objects which in turn provide happiness.  Or money buys 'time' to do something we love providing happiness.  People have erased these connections and simply equated money with happiness, ignoring the mediums.  So here we are a century later, working for money opposed to happiness.  The money provides us with the substance to survive, and possibly find happiness but it is a medium of exchange.  Money is not happiness itself.

I think Arnold was touching on a flaw in the society he saw at the time.  We are supposed to be beings of rational thought, yet we are not choosing the decisions that are actually best for us.  The things that are best for political machines and social circles are not the same as our individual needs.     

The hills where our lives rise

The Buried Life by Matthew Arnold is a beautiful and inspiring poem that urges readers to reflect on themselves and rediscover their passions in life. Arnold believes that, in the flurry of day to day labor and routine, we lose who we truly are at the expense of "all the thousand nothings of the hour" and their "stupefying power". We dream of experiencing things, going places, and accomplishing personal goals but more often than not those dreams never come to fruition because we become so wrapped up in the mundane hum of day to day life. Those dreams are what Arnold calls our "buried life" - it is the life that we long for but are not brave enough to sacrifice stability necessary to pursue. The tone of the poem, though, is not one of despair. Instead, Arnold conveys a message of truth and peace and a "lull in the hot race" that modern man finds himself stuck in. Arnold encourages man to fearlessly mine deep into his own heart and discover what causes it to beat.

Social Awareness In The Cry Of The Children

After listening to the in class discussion and going into small groups about the poem The Cry Of The Children I wanted to go into more detail about the voices of the children act as a social commentary of the time.

                “But the young, young children, O my brothers, They are weeping bitterly! They are weeping in the playtime of the others, In the country of the free”.  The lead up to this is how everything is happy and how the young in the natural world are free and joyous yet the young children who are not in nature are not free and happy but are weeping instead. It seems to me that at the time that this poem was written the social view of children had begun to swing away from them being small adults and actual children. My reason for thinking this is that for Browning to be bemoaning the condition of these children infers that at least some segment of the population would be in agreement with her.

                There was one passage in particular that did show kind of a transition from being young adults into children. In the passage the children say their our fathers but feel do not know the rest. I am not sure which is more oddly cruel, the fact that they only know those two words for the prayer or the fact that they are aware that they do not have all the words necessary for their God to hear them. I think that Browning uses lines like that to paint a looking glass view into the confusion surrounding what society was to expect of and from the young adults.

The Richer, Cooler Half of London

Matthew Arnold's West London is quite a bit different from his East London in that the social realm of the east focuses more on the poverty ridden/working class side on the Industrial Revolution while the west side seems to be more consistent with the beneficial outcomes. In West, what immediately struck me as interesting was Arnold's notion of the little beggar girl only stopping to ask for money from "labouring men" while letting the rich "pass with frozen stare." This to me implies a sense of pride even among the poverty ridden people on the streets. The beggar woman only asks for money from her friends or from people who she knows has truly earned it. This could be a social commentary on the rift between the rich and poor during the Industrial Revolution. According to the footnotes, the West side of town is affluent and wealthy, which begs the question: why do the beggars beg in the wealthy side of town but ignore the ones who would give them the most money? Arnold in the second to last stanza mentions that the beggar only asks "of sharers in a common fate" inciting the idea that there in indeed some sense of pride, but more so an unspoken moral code among the beggars.

Our Buried Lives

I really enjoyed reading this poem. I think it touches one of the most basic needs in every person, which is the need to know ourselves and what we are capable of. Some of the lines I appreciated in particular say "But hardly have we, for one little hour, Been on our own line, have we been ourselves-" This spoke to me and the desire I feel for not only myself, but the one my generation has as well, to be an individual. At the same time, to be a TRUE individual, would be the most frightening and lonely existence. There lies the rub. Arnold's poem plays to our fears and desires and in the final stanzas gives us his theory on them. "Our eyes can in another's eyes read clear, When our world-deafn'd ear is by the tones of a loved voice caress'd" If we become lost in the sounds of the world and numb from it's regime, it's in the eyes of a loved one that our potential surfaces. Whether it's a lover, friend or family member, they take away the fears the world has burdened you with and make you feel special, unique; individual.

Ebb and Flow of Misery

In "Dover Beach", Matthew Arnold portrays the "turbid ebb and flow/ Of human misery". In the first part of the poem, Arnold describes the beach in a some what innocent way, saying "The sea is calm tonight" and " sweet is the night air!". His tone seems light and he is attentive to the subtleties around him, noticing even "the grating roar/ Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling". However, in the latter half of the poem, the outlook becomes much more bleak. Instead of the roar of the pebbles, it is now, as Arnold writes, "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar". The poem ultimately ends with Arnold suggesting a truce with his audience, acknowledging that the world seems to "lie before us like a land of dreams", and yet at the same time, "Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light". By putting these two different perspectives of the world into a single poem, Arnold is portraying the "ebb and flow" of human emotions and the constant struggle to keep up with that change. In the end, the world that Arnold realizes in his poem is far less certain than a world he originally set out to meet.

East vs. West

I find it interesting that in the poems East London and West London, both pain bleak pictures, yet East London comes with a ray of hope in the preacher's outlook despite himself being ill and overworked.  What is more interesting is that East London was the working-class area of the city whereas West London was the wealthy end of the city.  The working-class, a people who had it rougher than the wealthy, are shown to have a brighter outlook due in part to their faith in religion.  One would think that the wealthy portion of the city would be home to the most uplifted attitudes and cheery outlooks considering how much they have over the working-class.  However, their lives seem much more bleak in comparison.  It would seem as if whatever gains the wealthy achieved came at the price of their souls, considering the lack of a religious figure shown.  In fact, the only person shown is a prostitute, a sinner.  If anything, there's an absence of religion in West London.   

From class, we know that around this time, people are starting to question religion with logic.  What does it say about the working-class to cling to religion at this point in time?  It seems to give them happiness and hope.  On the other side of the city, however, the wealthy don't seem to have anything to cling to for their happiness.  Are they even happy at all?  Both sections of the city are depicted in equally bleak means, yet the working class have religion but the wealthy aren't shown to have anything.  If we are questioning religion using logic, then isn't ignorance bliss if it helps you get through the day?  Should we question it at all?  I have no idea.  I'm just throwing ideas out there at this point because this comparison is fairly interesting. 

The crying children.

The Cry of the Children provides an insight of the life of working children and the misery of life. These children were in fact the little adults of the Victorian period that we discussed in class. These children are in so much misery that they think "Death in life, as best to have". These children have obtained the belief that death would be more enjoyable than life because all they do is suffer and do labor. They then begin to question religion, God more specifically. They question his existence because he has not answered there prayers. These children did not get to experience a normal childhood; such as, innocence, joy,  and growing experiences. These children were thrown into a life they had no choice but to take and are miserable living it. In this selection were are shown sides that make us feel more sympathetic towards the children because we do not get to see their kid side. To experience what they have at such a young age makes a person grow up faster than they should and not enjoy life, as these children have.