Contrasting the Theme of power and control between Porphyrias Lover‚ La Belle Dame Sans Merci and My Last Duchess The poems I have chosen are: My Last Duchess Ferrara by Robert Browning‚ Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning and La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats. I am going to be exploring the theme of power and control in each of the poems and how the poets show it. In Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess it appears that the men have the power whereas in La Belle Dame Sans Merci the woman has the
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"The Birthmark" by Hawthorne is a short fiction that warns readers to take a second thought towards pursuing physical perfection. Throughout the story‚ Hawthorne uses a great deal of symbolism. These symbols in Hawthorne’s "Birthmark" not only foreshadow the outcome of the story but also reinforce the theme significantly. The birthmark in the story is a tiny‚ hand-shaped imperfection on Georgiana’s cheek. This tiny mark on Georgiana’s cheek may seem to be charming by others. However‚ to her husband
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“The Birthmark” The short story “The Birthmark”‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ tells the story of a scientist‚ his wife‚ and a unique birthmark that flaws the near perfect face of his wife. Through this story Hawthorne is trying to get a message across to the audience; sometimes‚ man is too eager to repair natural imperfections that may exist using science‚ rather than seeing these imperfections as beautiful natural occurrences‚ which will eventually lead to the destruction of nature. To get this
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark‚ Aylmer‚ a scientist tries to use science in order to make his wife perfect. She has a birthmark on her left cheek that to him causes him to believe is the only thing that causes her to not be perfect. Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to stress how people have this cultural necessity for perfection. That perfection is something people must succeed in achieving be it in a passion or even more visually. And that this sort of idealism can never lead to anything well
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Have you ever tried to look or do something perfect‚ but it never turned out perfect enough? That is because it is foolish to strive for perfection‚ which is the theme of “The Birthmark”. The theme is it is foolish to strive for perfection because anything perfect on earth is unrealistic. Hawthorne has a Christian belief‚ meaning the only way to become perfect is when you die and go to heaven. In heaven‚ your mind and body is restored to its younger self and you become perfect. Aylmer is the
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they can be considered disturbed characters. The play‚ ‘Macbeth’ and poem‚ ‘My Last Duchess’ both show psychological truths and insights into the characters. While the Duke shows himself to be disturbed straight away in the poem‚ Macbeth’s mental deterioration takes place and develops as the play proceeds. ‘Macbeth’ written by William Shakespeare and set in 1050 contains themes of status‚ power and death while ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning written in 1842 shows how status‚ wealth and the marriage
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The Birthmark and The Eye of the Beholder The feminine beauty ideal is "the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women’s most important assets‚ and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain". Is there true beauty or is it all just a cultural construct? “The Birthmark” and “The Eye of the Beholder” both provide treatments of beauty and perfection by showcasing a woman’s struggles to reach societies standards. Although the core meaning of the texts are
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The Duchess of Malfi was written in the early 1600’s and is often considered to be Webster’s masterpiece. The story takes place in the Italian city of Amalfi during the sixteenth century‚ where the Duchess of the court of Amalfi is a young widow who has fallen in love with her steward‚ Antonio. Both of her brothers the Cardinal and Duke Ferdinand are against her remarrying and are very powerful. In becoming suspicious of the Duchess‚ Ferdinand hires Bosola to spy on her‚ while the Duchess thinks
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The Birthmark as a Symbol In Nathaniel Hawthorne ’s‚ The Birthmark‚ the symbolism is quite evident of the birthmarks upon Georgiana ’s face. It represents Aylmer ’s struggles with nature and science‚ through his repeated attempts of the removal of it. This clash between science and nature illustrates the concept of man versus woman‚ through the femininity of nature and the masculine traits of the world of science. Throughout the story‚ nature is portrayed as feminine and is even present through
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and leads to his repentance. His once clever wordplay is replaced with much more sincere tone. It is the first scene where it is evident that Ferdinand is slipping into madness while still believing that he holds the moral high-ground and shows the Duchess as almost the polar opposite of her twin brother‚ maintaining dignity and calmness in the most extreme of circumstances. Webster allows all the interaction to be between the three main characters to allow the audience to closely analyse each one
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