This is the one poem that I was away for in class and try as I might i really have no idea what it is about. Can anyone help me! Browning is the section of the course where i get most confused so any help would be FANTASTIC!
Help with Browning's the Laboratory (1 Viewer)
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braindrainedAsh
Journalist
This is from my Browning summary (which is from my browning speech)
The Laboratory: Ancien Regime
-Set in pre-revolutionary France, the persona is an embittered woman, visiting an apothecary to purchase poison to kill her competitors at court in the quest to find a wealthy husband. In a patriarchal society women need to have a wealthy husband for their personal livelihood, so there is intense rivalry and competition among single women, especially at court.
-Conveys Browning's criticism of a patriarchal society which reduces women to desperate measures, such as murder, in order to survive.
-The language used by the persona at times suggests innocence and naivety, such as when she remarks that the poison is not colorful enough; "The color's too grim!/ Why not soft like the phial's, enticing and dim?", making the responder sympathize with the persona's situation, even though she is a murderer. By evoking this sympathy Browning aids the responder in realizing that the persona is a victim of social convention, driven to extremities by frustration and jealousy.
-The persona is competing with Elise, who is blessed with great beauty and is of a higher social standing than the persona. This is revealed when the poem reads "She's not little, no minion like me-/ That's why she ensnared him". Elise and the man that the persona wishes to marry are together, making the persona jealous and embittered. The persona feels that she must commit murder for her own personal security, but in doing this the individual is abandoning society's moral conventions.
- In a patriarchal society women rely on men for their personal livelihood, so there is intense rivalry and competition. The level of desperation that the persona is reduced to is revealed when she settles her payment;
Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold till your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will.
Hope that helps Soph!
The Laboratory: Ancien Regime
-Set in pre-revolutionary France, the persona is an embittered woman, visiting an apothecary to purchase poison to kill her competitors at court in the quest to find a wealthy husband. In a patriarchal society women need to have a wealthy husband for their personal livelihood, so there is intense rivalry and competition among single women, especially at court.
-Conveys Browning's criticism of a patriarchal society which reduces women to desperate measures, such as murder, in order to survive.
-The language used by the persona at times suggests innocence and naivety, such as when she remarks that the poison is not colorful enough; "The color's too grim!/ Why not soft like the phial's, enticing and dim?", making the responder sympathize with the persona's situation, even though she is a murderer. By evoking this sympathy Browning aids the responder in realizing that the persona is a victim of social convention, driven to extremities by frustration and jealousy.
-The persona is competing with Elise, who is blessed with great beauty and is of a higher social standing than the persona. This is revealed when the poem reads "She's not little, no minion like me-/ That's why she ensnared him". Elise and the man that the persona wishes to marry are together, making the persona jealous and embittered. The persona feels that she must commit murder for her own personal security, but in doing this the individual is abandoning society's moral conventions.
- In a patriarchal society women rely on men for their personal livelihood, so there is intense rivalry and competition. The level of desperation that the persona is reduced to is revealed when she settles her payment;
Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold till your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will.
Hope that helps Soph!
Jinglebell
Member
really? shit...we were told it was a guy looking to kill his cheating wife/lover...hmmm *goes back to reread poem* i guess that makes all the kissing stuff more understandable
EDIT: ok, i just found it on the internet, and i think we may have even had a slightly different version of the poem in class...go my teacher, can't even get the poem right
but yes, this iterpretation makes infinitely more sense...hmm, now i shall have to make sure my friends know of my teacher's monumental uselessness.
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