British Literature Exam 1

Porphyria’s Lover genre

dramatic monologue

Porphyria’s Lover characters

Porphyria and the narrator

Porphyria’s Lover summary

The narrator is sad in his cabin when Porphyria arrives. He realizes that even though she loves him, she will never abandon her upper class status for him. To try and preserve the moment forever, he decides to kill her by strangling her with her own hair. After she’s dead, he positions her body to rest on his shoulder and almost imagines her as alive, justifying his murder by saying it’s what she wanted and by blaming God for not passing retribution

Porphyria’s Lover context

In the Victorian era, the idea of open affection and sexuality was highly frowned upon, so having Porphyria be open about it was shocking for the time

My Last Duchess genre

dramatic monologue

My Last Duchess biographical context

Based on the story of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, who married 14-year-old Lucrezia de Medici. She died 3 years later in a suspected poisoning by the Duke’s hand. The Duke then went on to remarry

My Last Duchess characters

The Duke, the reader (part of the new bride’s father’s party), the last duchess, the new duchess

My Last Duchess summary

The Duke is showing an emissary a portrait of his late wife and explaining how easily someone could win her affection. In doing so, he shows his arrogance, ego, and dangerous jealousy and insecurity and the reader realizes that he is showing the emissary this to threaten his new duchess. If she does not act the way he wants her to, she will face a similar fate as his last duchess

The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point Genre

dramatic monologue

The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point biographical context

Written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a known abolitionist despite her family’s wealth being built off of it. Became popular in the United States and England after being published in a gift book

The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point characters

The runaway slave, the lover, the baby, the slave catchers

The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point summary

A Black woman stands at Pilgrim Rock and explains her story to the spirits around her. She escaped enslavement in the South after killing her child that was a produce of rape. She could not love the child because it was not the one she imagined and it was born from an unspeakable trauma. She is angry at God for abandoning her but shows her unwavering resolve by making it all the way to the North and fighting even as the slave catchers closed in around her

The Lady of Shalott genre

lyrical ballad

Goblin Market genre

narrative that is a fairy tale

God’s Grandeur genre

sonnet

The Windhover genre

sonnet

Pied Beauty genre

sonnet

As Kingfishers Catch Fire genre

sonnet

Carrion Comfort genre

sonnet

No Worst, There Is None genre

sonnet

I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day genre

sonnet

The Lady of Shalott cultural context

discussing how strict gender roles were during the Victorian era

The Lady of Shalott characters

The Lady of Shalott, Lancelot

The Lady of Shalott summary

The Lady of Shalott lives on an island in the middle of a river that flows to Camelot and she spends all of her time weaving by looking through a mirror at her work and at the outside world because she knows that she is cursed if she looks at Camelot. One day, her attention is grabbed by Sir Lancelot riding past and he’s so shiny and attractive that she is immediately drawn, perhaps even aroused, and leaves her loom to look at him. This triggers the curse and she chooses to die on her own terms, taking a boat from Shalott and drifting into Camelot while she sings. She is eventually discovered by the people of Camelot, who had been feasting, including Sir Lancelot.

Gerard Manley Hopkins biographical context

When he wrote his “terrible sonnets” he was battling severe depression, which absolutely influenced his writing and outlook on life. The terrible sonnets include Carrion Comfort, No Worst, There Is None, I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day