Slideshow for the seventh lecture in my summer course, English 10, "Introduction to Literary Studies: Deception, Dishonesty, Bullshit."
http://patrickbrianmooney.nfshost.com/~patrick/ta/m15/
1. Lecture 7:
Whom Can You
Trust?
PATRICK MOONEY, M.A.
ENGLISH 10, SUMMER SESSION A
1 JULY 2105
2. ●
Married (1846) Elizabeth Barrett, a
poet much better known than he
was; the couple went to live in Italy.
●
Best known for his dramatic
monologues, not all of which are as
depressing as this week’s selections.
●
Unusually, “Robert Browning
societies” for the study of his work
were founded while he was still alive.
●
First surviving sound recording made
of a notable person in England (7
April 1889).
Robert Browning (1812–1889)
Caricature of Browning from Punch (1882).
3. Some questions about “My Last Duchess”
So we have some interpretive questions here …
●
Who is the speaker?
●
Who is “my last duchess”?
●
To whom is the speaker currently speaking?
●
What has he done?
●
What is he currently trying to do?
4. “My Last Duchess” (1842)
●
The speaker is probably Alfonso II
d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533–
1598).
●
That would make his wife (the “last
duchess”) Lucrezia di Cosimo de'
Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de'
Medici, whom he married in 1558. He
was 25, she 14.
●
He abandoned her 1559; she died 1561,
of either tuberculosis or poisoning.
●
Painting to the left is by Agnolo
“Bronzino” di Cosimo, 1560.
5. The Tragedy of Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark
●
Shakespeare’s longest play.
●
Also one of his most continually popular plays.
●
Most likely composed some time between 1598 and 1601.
●
Definitely performed by 1607, probably by 1602.
●
Three extant early versions with notable differences:
– First quarto (Q1, 1603)
– Second quarto (Q2, 1604)
– First folio (F1, 1623)
6. ●
Often taken to be a “difficult” Shakespeare play for
modern readers.
●
Language: courtly vs. common/popular.
– Examples of uncommon rhetorical devices:
●
Stichomythia, long sections of alternating half-,
single, or double lines.
●
Anaphora, repetition of phrases at the beginning
of sentences.
8. What is the story of Hamlet?
Conversely, what is Hamlet “about”?
9. What about Rosencrantz (1966)?
●
Occurs “in the wings” of Hamlet.
●
Other characters from Hamlet make periodic
appearances.
●
Text from Hamlet and its form.
●
Character motivations.
10. The Punch caricature of Robert Browning is out of copyright, as it was originally published in
1882.
Original source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Robert_browning_cartoon-1-.png
Bronzino’s portrait of Lucrezia di’ Medici is also out of copyright, being more than 450 years old.
Original source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Agnolo_Bronzino%2C_ritratto_di_L
ucrezia_de%27_Medici.JPG
Henry Fuseli’s rendition of the scene from Act I of Hamlet is also out of copyright, having been
published in the 18th
century:
Original source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet#/media/File:File-Hamlet,_Prince_of_Demark_Act_I_Sc
ene_IV.png
Media credits