The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

PLEASE HELP! English Lit

I have my english lit controlled assessment tomorrow "Explore the ways writers present human weakness/flaws in the Romeo and Juliet and The Laboratory." what do i need to say besides the obvious for A*? (i got A* for my language ones but this is unnerving)
I wrote an essay on morality in Browning's poetry and I've copied and pasted the parts written on The Laboratory, which may be helpful with your title

in ‘The Laboratory’ a woman describes through dramatic monologue her desire to kill her lover ‘drop dead’ and a woman ‘which is the poison to poison her?’ Which suggests her lover has been unfaithful since a woman is mentioned and then Browning uses collective pronouns ‘they’ which presents the two as a couple. The narrator’s fascination with the details of the poison with which she is going to kill disturbs the reader, as her fascination reveals that she’s enjoying the thought of killing. The questions which permeate the poem ‘you call it a gum?’ highlight her fascination over the whole process and present her as a woman with a wavering sense of morality, since she’s desperate to become involved in the murder ‘I trying thy gas mask tightly’, which underlines her excitement for immoral behaviour such as murder, this makes the reader feel uneasy yet we’re fascinated and enticed by her excitement.
. In ‘The Laboratory’ the feminine names integrated into the poem ‘Elise’ and ‘Pauline’, which could be the names of other potential love rivals, reveals the jealousy of the narrator caused by the infidelity of her lover. Especially since Browning’s utilisation of exclamation marks significantly raise the pace of the poem and highlight a rising anger in the narrator, further underlining her jealousy as she becomes more aggravated as she talks of women whom she perceives herself to be in competition with. This is shown through her listing of body parts ‘breasts and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!’ Browning reveals that she’s insecure, she feels threatened by the sensuality of other women’s bodies (shown through the list) because her lover’s affair has put her in competition with other women. Therefore she is jealous and wants to abolish the threat by making them ‘drop dead!’ Furthermore she wants the love rival and her lover to suffer ‘let death be felt’ which suggests she wants them punished severely for their betrayal ‘proof remain’, she explains how their deeds created this jealousy in her ‘they laugh at me’ and so their deeds resulted in their death. This suggests she does not lack morality because she was justified in her punishment of the two lovers. However some audiences may still perceive the actions of this woman to be immoral, because her fascination with the poison ‘mash up thy paste’ suggests the killing is merely a hedonistic act rather than punishment for a sin they have committed which reveals that maybe this character does disturbingly lack morals.
The vengeful killing of the woman in ‘The Laboratory’ who wanted her lover to suffer as he died by first enduring the death of his lover before his own cruel death ‘he is sure to remember her dying face.’ This shows that under her ‘mask’ she is quite fierce and cunning which makes her seem immoral, her actions are methodical and clearly planned which shows a sinister aspect to her character which makes the reader uncomfortable.
the woman in ‘The Laboratory’ seems to show the slightest reconsideration of the murder before she leaves the apothecary’s. ‘Can it ever hurt me?’, she considers whether she can complete the murder of her former lover. She contemplates whether the death of him will cause her pain as she wonders if she still cares, despite her previous vengeful language. Although she finishes by saying ‘next moment I dance at the King’s’ which suggests she will carry out the murder as she intended and her life will continue as normal.
Equally for Romeo and Juliet you can say that rivalry between the two houses is a clear weakness resulting ultimately in the deaths of the lovers, similar to the internal rivalry and jealousy in the narrator in the Laboratory
Original post by pseudonymegg
I wrote an essay on morality in Browning's poetry and I've copied and pasted the parts written on The Laboratory, which may be helpful with your title

Thanks, that's really helpful :smile:

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you