In Robert Browning‘s dramatic monologue, “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church,” the reader encounters a speaker who appears to be overtly conceited, object-oriented, and scornful. Due to the fact that the speaker is on his deathbed, the poem is written as one gigantic clump in blank verse, which allows the reader to infer that there is certain disarray in the speaker’s tone. His hasty speech is indicative of the numerous thoughts that are currently racing through his head during his final moments and it is evident that as these notions cascade out of his mind, they cloud his judgment and cause him to inadvertently reveal curious aspects about his character – aspects that are entirely antithetical to the expectations one would normally have for a bishop.
In the very first line of the poem, “Vanity, saith the preacher, vanity!” (line 1) the speaker makes known that he does not endorse the idea of self-absorption, which is entirely incongruous, however, in that he spends the majority of the poem talking about plans for an ostentatious tomb tailored to his liking for eternal rest. This line alone is wholly ironic, as he denounces the very quality that permeates his speech during his deathbed confession. He then addresses his silent auditors, “Nephews – sons mine … ah God, I know not!” (3), which is very telling and also crucial in comprehending the rest of his confusing address. The speaker unintentionally divulges the fact that his sons may have been conceived out of wedlock, meaning he had sinned and undoubtedly marred his image as a man of God, forcing him to conceal this secret for years on end – clearly, the reader is not coming upon a conventional bishop. The subtle break signifies a very realistic, informal way...
... middle of paper ...
...ing his children to flee his presence, he begs, “And leave me in my church” (122); the operative word in this phrase is “my.” Instead of dying meekly and saying “leave me in this church,” the bishop chooses to continue being possessive, claiming the church is his, as if he were God himself – a comparison any other bishop in his right mind would surely rebuke.
The speaker of this poem is altogether hypocritical, claiming he is anything but vain, when in actuality he is self-obsessed, insecure, supercilious, and disdainful of anyone he deems inferior to him. Involuntarily exposing these weaknesses about his character through his attitude towards his adversary Gandolf, using sacrilegious terminology, and meticulously obsessing over every detail of his resting place, the reader learns that the speaker is really the anti-bishop, the converse of a devout, God-fearing man.
Authors incorporate religious principles to set forth the moral characteristics and ideals expected of a person. Literary works are illustrated with biblical allusions to help express the message behind the plot of a story. The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight integrates biblical beliefs to depict the views on human nature. In this work, Christian concepts are embedded into the poem to suggest the Green Knight’s characterization as God, a representation to test human nature’s fidelity.
This piece shows up where an extremely youthful Stephen Dedalus cites it verbatim, thinking in his sick bed how sweet and sad the words are and how sentimental his own funeral is likely to be. It is one of the primary signs of Stephen's distraction with sounds and words.
There is no end to the ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”; this essay hopes to explore this problem within the tale.
Even with his prayer, and his wine-induced courage, the speaker still despairs. He compares himself to “the poor jerk who wanders out on air and then looks down” and “below his feet, he sees eternity,” when he realizes that “suddenly his shoes no longer work on nothingness” (5.12-15). It is as though he is submitting to the reality that, if he steps beyond the safe borders of the proven approaches to writing, there is no magic potion that will guarantee his success. Nevertheless, he appears to be willing to take his chances, and, ironically, he does so with this prayer, which is stylistically unconventional. In a desperate attempt to remind his readers that he was once considered a good writer in the event that this poem does not meet their traditional standards, he makes one final request: “As I fall past, remember me” (5.16).
...ourneys, these men go in as an average man of the time, face a challenge that the Church thought a man of the day might experience, and come out purified and learned, as a man of those periods should behave. These stories are examples of how a life should be lived and the challenges that one may encounter. While the frames of these narratives change from fictitious to realistic according to the flow of Christianity-based, Northeastern literature, they each are pictures of the mentality of their times. As time progressed, so did the mentalities, which were heavily influenced by Christianity. This is evident in the slow removal of pagan beliefs in the supernatural monsters like dragons and giants into the more realistic literary frames. While all have their differences due to changing times, the hero's journey as a model for the everyday man is clear in these poems.
Chaucer's Friar appears to have forgotten his station in life. He seems to lost his way with
Introduced by the Duke of Ferrara, the late duchess herself is denied the chance to present herself to the agent herself. However she cannot do this since she has passed away, for reasons unknown to the agent. The late duchess’s voice is silent now forever. The runaway slave is also silenced. There is no say in whether or not she was allowed to be with the man she loves, nor does she have a say in the matter about her rape, or giving birth to a lighter skinned baby. Neither have a choice with the ways men dictate their lives and suffer as a result of it, but their voices resist the oppression forced down upon them.
Anonymous. “Beowulf.” Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. Seamus Heaney, trans. New York: W.W. Norton &Company Ltd. 2001. 2-213. Print.
Beowulf’s three great fights - the main events of the poem - show the deficiencies in Beowulf’s characters in contrast with the Christian belief. Beowulf possesses many pagan traits, such as pride and might and courage, which are considered virtuous by the pagans. However, from a Christian perspective, Beowulf is not entirely virtuous and his actions seem to be contradicting. Nevertheless, although Beowulf’s character flaws have killed him in the end, he is still an admirable hero that deserves respect from both Christians and pagans.
In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," a portrait of the egocentric and power loving Duke of Ferrara is painted for us. Although the duke's monologue appears on the surface to be about his late wife, a close reading will show that the mention of his last duchess is merely a side note in his self-important speech. Browning uses the dramatic monologue form very skillfully to show us the controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits the duke possessed without ever mentioning them explicitly.
Author unknown “Beowulf.” The Norton Anthology Of Poetry. shorter fifth edition. Ferguson, Margaret W. , Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York, New York: W W Norton , 2005. 2-9. Print.
Browning’s works were the primary model for the basic form of the standard Victorian dramatic monologue which was based around a speaker, listener, and a reader. Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” became a model for the dramatic monologue form primarily because of the strict approach he took while developing the poem. One of the aspects characteristic of this work is the authors level of consciousness. Each element in “My Last Duchess” is thoughtfully constructed with form and structure in mind. This poem is filled with dramatic principle that satisfied the Victorian period’s demand for an action and drama that were not overtly apparent in the work. In the case of “My Last Duchess” the drama of the poem is how his character, the Duke, is introduced. In dramatic monologues the character’s self is revealed through thoug...
In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.
Browning uses irony in conjunction with dramatic monologue to produce a sinister and domineering effect. Irony, much like dramatic monologue, can make the reader question the true underlying meaning of the passage. This brief confusion causes an eeriness to be brought about in the work. In "My Last Duchess," verbal irony is demonstrated when the Duke says to his guests, "even had you skill in speech . . . which I have not"(35-36).
In the first several lines (1-8) of the poem , the duke is addressing an unknown listener. He only uses the pronoun "you" so it is never clear until the ending who the intended listener is. He begins by pointing out the portrait on the wall...