March-+Victorian+Era

=** “My Last Duchess Analysis” **= In “My Last Duchess”, Robert Browning characterizes the Duke as an oppressive, egotistical, and controlling man that views women as prizes who are better as pieces of art than feeling, living people. Through godly allusions, controlling diction, and obsessive imagery, Browning illustrates the lack of love and personal connection that the speaker has to his deceased wife and how it reflects the sexism exhibited by men in the Victorian Era.

Browning juxtaposes the Duke’s obsession with the painting of his last duchess with his lack of care/love for the actual deceased duchess to demonstrate the Duke’s jealous, oppressive, and controlling personality. The Duke celebrates his elegant panting by “[t]he depth and passion of its glance”(8). The speaker shows no personal connection or emotion to his deceased wife. He refers to her as “it” throughout the poem which represents how he sees her as a lesser being than himself. The absence of female pronouns represents how he views women as objects instead of human beings. Furthermore, he asserts his desire for control when asserting that “none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I”(9-10). Browning illustrates the Duke as an oppressive and dominant force. Only he controls who can view his beautiful, deceased wife. Although her beauty is his prized possession, he has no care for the women behind it. Furthermore, Browning characterizes the speaker’s immense jealousy when the Duke hisses that “‘t was not [h]er husband’s presence only, called that spot [o]f joy onto the Duchess’ cheek”(13-15). The Duke’s obsessive and jealous nature reveals that he believed his wife should only smile for him, in other worlds, she should only live to serve him and his desires. He expects that his wife stifle any other emotions and actions; he expects that his wife should only exhibit human emotion around him, contributing to the idea that he views women as possessions.

Through controlling diction and mythological allusions, Browning illustrates the narcissistic nature of the Duke and his vicious cycle of using young women for their beauty while expecting them to obey his every whim. The speaker complains that she “ranked [my gift of a nine-hundred-years old name [w]ith anybody’s gift”(33-34). He shows extreme pride of his bloodline, asserting that the gift of his lineage should be the greatest gift of all. Browning demonstrates the egotistical and overbearingly proud aspect of the Duke. Furthermore, after celebrating his dead wife’s beauty while showing no care/affection for her, he asserts that “his [The Count’s] fair daughter’s self, as I avowed [a]t starting, is my object”(52-53). The Duke, again, refers to his next bride as an object. Browning displays that h has already had multiple wives and is continuing his oppressive and shallow cycle toward women. Furthermore, Browning characterizes the Duke’s immense egotism as the Duke compares himself to “Neptune. . . [t]aming a sea-horse, thought a rarity. . . cast in bronze for me!”(55-56). The Duke believes that he is greater than a God since he won’t even stoop to taming/instructing women. In addition, Browning shows that the speaker views women as wild horses that need to be “broken” which is a beautiful process to the Duke.

Browning demonstrates the prevalent sexism toward women in the Victorian Era. He illustrates how women are objectified and only admired for their beauty. He asserts that high status men, such as the Duke, see little value in women as human beings. When they do not conform to society's ideals, they are killed either literally or by expulsion from their community.

= = = “Remembrance” by Emily Bronte Analysis = In “Remembrance”, Emily Bronte explores the concept in the Victorian Era that women were expected to remain faithful even after their husband’s death. She demonstrates how the speaker is torn from losing memories of her deceased lover, showcasing that she feels guilt as time passes on. Although she wants to always remember her love, she also alleges that it brings pain. Through rhetorical questions, she explores her own guilt and attempts to come to an understanding of her current relationship to her past lover. Furthermore, Bronte demonstrates the connection between human and nature which fuse the idea of true love and loss. Bronte uses personification, melancholy imagery, and a cascading, beautiful diction to demonstrate the pain and impeding recovery from the loss of a loved one. Bronte illustrates “Time [and his] all severing wave” which demonstrates that only time has the immense power to hinder love’s ability (4). The speaker explains that she is internally conflicted since she is beginning to forget, but she asserts that she will always love his “noble heart”(8). Fifteen years has passed, and the speaker has remained faithful by remembering even after “years of change and suffering”(12). However, she pleads for “Sweet Love of youth” to forgive her since she is beginning to forget their early memories together (17). Other desires in life are beginning to tempt her, and the speaker is beginning to realize that these “hopes” do not have to be negative (20). The speaker has never found another love, and feels as if morning (light rebirth) has still never fully come. She confesses that she feels figuratively in the grave as well. However, “Despair” is unable to fully break her spirit, she knows she must continue living (22). Through overcoming struggle and grief, the speaker realizes that she has found a new life and strength. The speaker compares her memories to actions of self-harm, admitting that the memories hurt her and make her wish to join her deceased lover. However, since she has learned to “check the tears of useless passion”, she now realizes that there is no use in crying or wishing since they cannot be together. TO survive, she realizes she must attempt to move on. However, she also acknowledges that moving on from the focus of grief is not the same a forgetting one’s love. Emily Bronte demonstrates that giving in and wallowing in grief stops one from experiencing life, demonstrating that the process of growing up and maturing leads to methods of containing and overcoming sorrow.

= “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning Analysis = In “Porphyria’s Lover”, Browning demonstrates the prevalent sexism that existed in the Victorian Era through an exploration of female beauty as a method of sinful temptation and desire. He exaggerates the attitude of Victorian men by characterizing the speaker as a deranged psychopath in an attempt to mock his own society. Cascading from stormy to warm imagery, Browning demonstrates Porphyria’s passion and desires. Furthermore, he showcases her beauty with imagery that implies sexual connotations while utilizing metaphors to illustrate the weak, doll-like stereotype forced upon women. In the beginning of the poem, Browning characterizes the atmosphere as “sullen”, “cold”, and “the storm” (2-7). He personifies the wind by comparing it to a villain who uses “spite” and “vex[s] the lake”(3-4). Browning demonstrates typical Romantic imagery that demonstrates that somehow nature and humanity are out of balance. When Porphyria arrives, she fills the room with warmth and fire which is indicative of her passion. The speaker is conflicted by her actions due to the shame and sin associated with sex before marriage. Browning uses sexual implications when he describes Porphyria with a “dripping cloak”, “soiled gloves”, and “damp hair”(11-13). Her clothes are connotated with dirty and impure which foreshadows possible actions of the night. Furthermore, her fallen hair is representative of “fallen women” in the Victorian Era who give in to temptation. Porphyria is shown with innocent aspects such as her “smooth white shoulder: and “yellow hair” which demonstrates her beauty and current purity (17-18). The speaker loves her purity and innocence, desiring for her to stay wholesome for the rest of her life. He fears her desires and passions, believing that the act of sex will corrupt her soul. The speaker also responds to her worship and submission, deciding that he’d rather have her pure forever than alive. As a result, he kills her with her feminine beauty which echoes the misogyny and horrible treatment of women in the Victorian Era. Browning demonstrates that female beauty can be used against women to prove their seductive and sinful natures. The speaker, who demands control, then refers to his lover with “a rosy little head” with her “utmost will” (52-53). The speaker highlights the features that make her doll-like, adding to the stereotype that women are weak and must remain pure. Browning criticizes his society by demonstrating that men would rather have women remain pure and innocent than alive humans with thoughts and desires of their own.

In “On the Death of Anne Bronte”, Charlotte Bronte demonstrates her grief and despair at her youngest sister’s death, leaving her as the sole living sibling of the Bronte family. Through imagery connotated with death, ironic religious devotion, and metaphors concerning Anne, Bronte displays her grief at the loss of her sister. Bronte demonstrates that the death of her sister has taken the “little joy” out of her life and that she now has “little terror” of death itself (1-2). She doesn’t fear death but explains that she desires the relief and escape of death. Furthermore, she explains she would have sacrificed her own life for her sister’s. She explores the concept of death through “filing breath”, and “the cloud, the stillness” (5-9). As death approaches her sister, she feels relief that her sister will not feel pain or suffer anymore. Furthermore, she compares her sister to “the hope and glory” of humankind, echoing that her sister was kind and good-hearted (14). This idea corresponds to the irony she poses when she “thanks God. . . well and fervently” (11-12). Although she thanks God for her sister’s passing from the atrocious disease, she also shows a slight tinge of anger concerning her sister’s death. Bronte illustrates that she does not understand why her sister had to suffer and why she must suffer now as the only child. She shows discontent on the idea that some humans must suffer before they can transcend to heaven. In the last lie, Bronte demonstrates that her future appears dark and solemn. Although she will continue living, she must now “bear alone” the pain (16). All of her siblings have passed, and she feels ultimately alone against the world.
 * “On the Death of Anne Bronte” by Charlotte Bronte Analysis **

= Vivien and Merlin Analysis =

Vivien and Merlin by Julia Margaret Cameron (1874)

In Julia Margaret Cameron’s photograph of Vivien and Merlin, Cameron echoes the Romantic influence of celebrating myths, heroes, and legends while blending the realist movement of photographs. She depicts the story of Vivien and Merlin, in which Vivien, a young woman, attempts to seduce Merlin to reveal the magic behind one of his secret charms. Cameron echoes the sexism that existed in the Victorian Era by showing how female beauty was associated with temptation, discussion, and manipulation. A common Victorian Era stereotype was to associate a women who held desires and possessed an attractive appearance to be cunning, wicked, and villainous. Vivien is associated with a seductress archetype who attempts to se her feminine wiles on Merlin. Merlin eventually gives in, since he is old and tired, which allows Vivien to learn the charm. Cameron’s unconventional art method of using photographs blends with a past celebrated myth. She combines both Romantic and Realist principles while hinting at the sexism in her era toward feminine beauty and power.