Narcissism in My Last Duchess Essay -- Robert Browning, My Last Duches

Robert Brownings poem My last Duchess is spoken from the perspective of the Duke and conveys the Dukes disposition through the literary form of a dramatic monologue. It involves a fictional account of the Duke addressing an envoy from the seem to talk of details for the hopeful marriage to the Counts daughter. The subtitle of this monologue is Ferrara, which suggests an historical reference to Alfonso II, the fifth Duke of Ferrara in Italy in the mid-sixteenth century. The objective of the Duke is to attempt to sway the envoys opinion of himself to come the maximum dowry possible in pursuit of this marriage. The reader is directed to imagine the Duke walking with the envoy through his art gallery and the Duke stops to lay down him a painting of his last Duchess that is presently covered by a chill. Since none puts by / the curtain I have drawn for you, but I (9-10). This curtain is the first reference to the Dukes selfish, jealous, and protective traits. The Duke uses the curtai n as a method of controlling his wife, even after her death. Other men admiring her beauty was un arrogateable, so by hiding the painting behind a curtain, he controls who is allowed to gaze upon her. Sir, twas not / her husbands presence only, called that spot / of joy into the Duchess insolence (13-15). The Duke mentions the blush on the cheek that the duchess has in the painting and assumes that Fr Pandolf, the painter, was attr phone numbered to the Duchess and possibly paid her a compliment. Her mantle lapsOver my ladys wrist too much, or Paint must(prenominal) never hope to reproduce the faintHalf-flush that dies along her throat. (16-19) The Duke assumes that Fr Pandolf was most likely flirting with the Duchess and that she was flirting back with him. This demonstrates that the Duke was extremely jealous and could not affirm to have his wife admired by other men. The Duke is not happy with the manner in which his wife portrayed herself around others. He could not accept her civility towards those of unimportance and a hearthow shall I say? too soon made glad, / too easily impressed (22-23). The Duke states that the Duchess was easily pleased by a compliment and through small favors from a servant or other insignificant people, a quality that the Duke could not tolerate. The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries virtually officious fool... ... Duke himself known to be a controlling man. This is a hint that the Duke will control his wife just as Neptune controls the sea horse.This monologue as spoken by the Duke represents many definitive traits that the Duke encompasses in his character. The manner in which he views his deceased Duchess demonstrates his egotistical view of himself. His selfish, jealous, protective, greedy, paranoid persona is displayed by his act of killing his wife. He could not control his Duchess as he wanted so his arrogance and his shallowness got the better of him until he could no longer do anything excep t kill her. The painting represents a wife that he can control until the day he died. His repeated manipulative habits continued as he influences the envoy to view the circumstances of this future marriage as being solely for the purposes of companionship. This is not the case the Dukes greed is his only concern, a wife to reign as he wishes and sufficient dowry to amplify his wealth. The character of the Duke is established as one of a man who believes he is the center of the universe. This man does not accept anything less than being seen as exactly that, the center of the universe.

The Values, Ideals, and Actions of Fanny Fern Essay -- Fanny Fern

The Values, Ideals, and Actions of Fanny Fern Literature from the 1820s to the 1860s brought attention to the expanse of the American experience and gave rise to many anomalous voices. Some of the best writers of this era challenged their fellow citizens to live up to the ideals that the founding fathers had written into Americas sacred documents. The voices that cast these challenges are as varied and wide mete out in their approach as this nations natural boundaries are diverse. Fanny Fern (1811-1872), was one of the writers who made a big splash with her fearless unconventionality during this literary renaissance. Her masterful phthisis of satire and her belief that the ideal of individualism should include women, gained her enormous popularity and doomed her chances of being included in the American literary canon for over a century. Fanny Ferns real name was Sarah Payson Willis Parton, but she used the pseudonym in all her legal affairs and with members of her family. Simil ar to Mark Twain in the sense that the pen names became more closely associated with the writers than their real names, Fern, like Twain, wrote satirical essays, sketches, and novels about the shortcomings of American society. For twenty-one years Fern reminded people that America involve to work on it problems with literature, education, prisons, prostitution, venereal disease, family planning, divorce, education, child rearing, and rights for women. Her unflinching, yet female perspective gained her enormous popularity. Although Fern did not completely abandon traditional womens topics like love, marriage, and children, the approximately far-reaching issues that she addressed were economic independence for women and the need for improvements in dome... ...cked to comprehend and remember the attack, and to see a direction they may take for correction (Harris 15). Fern gave us the ironical contrast between American citizens values, ideals and actions. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Self Reliance. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 1622-1638. Fern, Fanny. Ruth Hall & Other Writings. Ed. Joyce W. Warren. New Brunswick Rutgers UP, 1986. Harris, Robert. The Purpose and regularity of Satire. VirtualSalt 20 Aug. 1990. 13 April 2001. <http//www.virtualSalt.com/satire.htm> Warren, Joyce W. Fanny Fern An Independent Woman. New Brunswick Rutgers UP, 1992. White, Barbara A. Fanny Fern (Sara Willis Parton) 1811-1872. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 2037-2038.

Heart of Darkness - Summary Essay -- essays research papers

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness is based on Conrads at first hand experience of the Congo region of West Africa. Conrad was actually sent up the Congo River to an inner station to rescue a company agent who died a few days later aboard ship. The story is told by a seaman named Charlie Marlow and is rearranged through the thoughts of an unidentified listening narrator. This story, on level, is simply about a voyage into the heart of the Congo. On another level, it is about the journey into the soul of mankind.      On a boat anchored in the Thames River outside London, a sailor named Marlow remarks to his friends that the kill theyre standing on was once a place of darkness and an uncivilized wilderness. This contemplation leads him to remember an incident in his past when he commanded a steamboat on the Congo River. When retelling his story, Marlow is a young man anxious to see the unexplored African jungles. An influential aunt in obtains an position as poli ce captain of a Congo steamer for Marlow. But when he arrives at the Companys Outer Station in Africa, hes faced with a horrible display of black thrall and white greed and hostility.      In a shady grove he discovers a crew of sickly African workers that have crawled away to die. He too meets the Companys chief accountant, who mentions a man named Kurtz who is a remarkable agent that has sent more ivory from the jungle than the other agents combined. Marlows interest is perked in Kurtz and will ultimately grow into an unhealthy obsession and become the focus of the story. After a difficult journey, Marlow arrives at the Companys Central Station where he learns that the steamer he was vatical to command has been destroyed in a wreck. He meets the local manager, who mentions Kurtz and says that Kurtz is assumed to be ill at his station up the river and that its necessary to get to him as quickly as humanly possible.      One night Marlow t alks with one of the agents at the station, who speaks of Kurtz with great esteem and admiration solely besides with resentment at the talents that make him a likely candidate for a job promotion. He says that Kurtz is one of those types of men that have come to Africa not only to gain wealth, but with the notion of spreading enlightenment to the uneducated people. On another occasion, while na... ...ach his minions camp. Marlow and Kurtz make an intense departure the next day, surrounded by warriors who appear ready to attack under the leadership of a barbaric looking woman. But Marlow, again, sounds the whistle and frightens them away. As they sail back down the river on the vessel, Kurtzs action slowly slips away and on his deathbed he has a moment of enlightenment or a vision, and he cries out, "The horror The horror" before he dies.      Marlow is also stricken by the fever that claimed Kurtz life and nearly dies. He survives the fever and return s to Brussels. Upon arriving in Brussels, he decides to visit Kurtzs fiance to inform her of her intendeds passing. In mourning, she is heartbreakingly devoted to the memory of Kurtz, whom she thinks was noble and generous until the end of his life. She pleads with Marlow to relay to her Kurtzs last words and Marlow simply cannot bear to tell her of Kurtzs straightforward nature or what really happened. And so, sparing her emotions and not finding it within himself to shatter her illusions "The last word he pronounced was- your name," he says to her and she shrieks and collapses in tears.