To what extent do you agree that Irene in a Lady of Letters is a tragic character whom is deserving of pity from the reader? Alan Bennett’s Irene, in a Lady of Letters, is actually perhaps one of his most complex characters in terms of looking at tragedy. Unlike most of Alan Bennett’s other monologues, a Lady of Letters ends on a more uplifting note than it begins on, with the character actually finding true happiness. However, for the majority of the monologue, Irene is presented to us as a very lonely, isolated and fairly desperate individual, whose only form of communication to the outside world, is to send letters of complaint to people in her ‘community’. The letters that Irene sends are often full of misinterpreted information that often causes trouble, where it is none of her business.
But when looked at in a deeper meaningful way, in which the characters look deep within themselves and the situation around them, optimism shines through and that is why Carver’s work is so elegant. In my opinion, Carver’s writings have both qualities of pessimism and optimism intertwined within stories rather than just having one quality or the other. In his short story Cathedral, the unnamed narrator has distinct characteristics of a very pessimistic human being. He tends to be more concerned with the negative aspects in his life and is constantly seeing negativity in most situations. I would consider the narrator self absorbed, concerned only with how the visit from Robert will affect him and dismissive of what role Robert may have played in his wife’s past.
Another technique that Rossetti uses to create memorable characters is Maude Clare's repetition of 'half'; this illustrates another side to Maude Clare's seemingly arrogant character 'queen'. It conveys that she feels betrayed and rejected by her 'Lord'; 'Here's my half of the golden chain/ You wore about your neck.' Many critics believe that Maude Clare giving back Thomas' gifts along with the repetition of the plural pronoun 'we' reveal a significant factor of Thomas' character; he is fickle. Therefore, throughout the poem
The Real Analysis of “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath was a gifted but troubled poet known for disturbing style of her work. Plath wrote the poem, “Daddy,” stanzas of emotional, psychological and historical thoughts. The poem was filled with regret and over time was analyzed and critiqued differently. The best critique, “From Protean Poetic: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath,” was written by Mary Lynn Broe and emphasizes the most adequate, textual evidence of the poem, “Daddy.” Broe begins her critique by justifying that Plath creates a mock poetic exorcism of the events that happened throughout her life. Broe’s main claim points out Plath’s stupidity, progress and comedy relief of her famous poem, “Daddy.” Broe puts forth supportive, textual evidence that persuades the audience of this claim.
Does Auden make Miss Gee a sympathetic character? Initially Auden is extremely sympathetic towards Miss Gee, yet in a harsh manner. “Now let me tell you a story about Little Miss Gee”. In this opening line, Auden immediately belittles her character and makes it sound like she belongs somewhere of far less merit, like a children’s book. Whereas in reality, this is actually a poem based entirely around the life of Miss Gee without any other main characters, to the extent that the poem is actually named after her.
This is demonstrated in the poem, “Red” by Hughes, where his perspective of Plath as a passionate but tortured individual contradicts the view of her gentle and happy persona. Hughes uses the colour red to symbolise Plath’s torment such as “poppies thin and wrinkle-free as the skin on blood” where Hughes connects Plath to poppies which have connotations of blood and death. The effect of this compounds the symbolism of the colour red, ultimately depicting Plath as a tortured soul. However, in contrast, Hughes reflects that at times Plath was untroubled by her psychological issues, such as when “kingfisher blue silks from San Francisco/ folded your pregnancy”. The poet’s use of the kingfisher uses the bird in flight as a symbol for the freedom which Plath occasionally experienced when separated from her obsession with her father.
Emma and clueless – - Use of an omniscient narrator to allow reader to reassess their impressions of the characters. - Occasional intrusive comments by the use of irony (mr knightley’) - Over loud, face paced, non diegetic, over bright colours - Music establishes mood and highlights the emotional states of characters - Mr knightley provides correct evaluation of the characters’ behaviours and personal worth - Emma’s lack of perception and the pain she caused Harriet was the first stage of self-awareness relinquishing by Harriet of mr elton’s memorabilia and her confession that she loves mr knightley forced emma to realise she loved him - Emma needs to accept her personal faults and demonstrate social responsibility through her actions,
The Language of the Brag” by Sharon Olds On a personal level, I found Old’s poem to be tremendously stimulating. I was both disgusted and enthralled with the almost violent and grotesque imagery Olds provides, I also thought this short story left me conflicted with the strength and courage of childbirth but also left me discouraged to endure the process myself. Though descriptions of “my stool black with iron pills” and “…passed blood and feces and sweat” are enough to horrify a young woman, I felt a sense of empowerment from the narrator’s recognition of her accomplishment, one that cannot be achieved by men (1280). The author eloquently shows her pride as she states, “I and the other women this exceptional/ act with this exceptional heroic body” (1280). With these lines Olds takes the female body, a subject that has been overly abused by past poets who glorified a woman’s anatomy as a possession and a prize, and contorts the sometimes iconic symbol into a reality: a reality which feels pain, but also gives life.
“Simply” is not a powerful enough word and because it suggests that the narrator finds it easy to deal with the pain of wishing death upon herself. “Frankly” is a definitive word, and it also conveys the feeling that the narrator is being direct and making a difficult, yet forthright statement despite the consequences of its dismal meaning. Carson stayed true to Sappho’s unusually wide spacing in between stanzas which makes the tone of the poem more concrete. The narrator is in despair and at a loss for words. She no longer wants to live, and therefore, it is hard for her to convey her feelings.
The final line, which is a stanza on its own, is an exception; this underlines it and creates a sense of evil as she suggests that she wasn’t to kill him as from the Greek mythology when you look at her she will instantly turn you into stone. The first paragraph of the poem sums up the whole poem. The words ‘a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy’ show the whole process she is going through and the emotions that she is feeling. It also goes onto talk about the curse that she has. The danger shown by upsetting Medusa is emphasised by the metaphor of "bullet tears", since tears are commonly seen as weak and fragile, but bullets are shown as cold violent and deathly.