Analysis of the Climax in "The Gifts of War"

As we all know, the climax of Margaret Drabble's story "The Gifts of War" occurs when Kevin's mother is confronted by Frances and Michael in the toy store. We discussed in class the possible reasons for why Kevin's mother reacts the way she does. The most obvious answer is that after saving up so much money for the gift and feeling so proud of being able to get him what he wants the most, she is upset by Frances' argument that it is a poor choice of a gift. We also suggested that maybe Frances has actually convinced her that it is a violent toy and gifts of that nature only perpetuate violence in our youth. While both explanations could certainly be true to a certain extent, and the second one seems to be the most logical within the context of the story, I would argue that it does not provide the whole answer. However, there are a few brief sentences earlier in the story that do.

For example, consider this quote from the description of Kevin's mother's inner thoughts as she is riding the bus into town: "as she thought of the gift she was going to buy him, her eyes lit on the bombed sites, and the rubble and decay of decades" (2827). Even earlier, there is another mention of "the waste lands of the city's rubble" and how Kevin had "shed some light" on them (2824).

From these, one can likely infer that Kevin represents to his mother one of the few or only good things that can distract her from the bleakness of the city. She knows that the gift she is buying him is a toy object of war, maybe even a bomber, but this does not concern her. All she cares about is making her son happy through buying him the gift. So when she listens to Frances' argument, she realizes that the gift only represents all of the rubble and bleakness that her son seemed to serve as a salvation from.

Concealed Evil in "My Last Duchess"

Robert Browning's classic poem "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue of a duke who is telling a visitor about his late wife as they are looking at a portrait of her in his home. At first, this seems like a simple poem about a man reminiscing for his lost love, all while the audience and the man whom the duke is speaking to have no idea how she has died. However, there are historical and contextual clues that reveal the darker side to the piece.

The duke in Browning's poem is based on Alfonso II d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara who ruled from 1559–1597. His first wife was Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici. Although she came with a sizable dowry, the Medicis were considered under the d'Estes in social status. Alfonso abandoned her soon after their marriage, from some time in 1559 to the day of her death, April 21, 1561. While the cause of her death couldn't be clearly determined at the time, many suspected her to have been poisoned.

As the poem goes on, the duke seems to become more and more bitter in talking about his late wife, saying how she was "easily impressed" and seemed to flirt with any and every man she came across. He also comments that his "gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name" didn't seem to be enough for her. He is clearly saying here that she should have been grateful to have married into a name that was much more respected than her maiden name. Near the end of the poem, however, the duke seems to make one brief comment on her death: "This grew; I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together". He doesn't elaborate or even hint at the nature of the "commands"; instead, he immediately changes the subject and asks the visitor to return downstairs with him.

Clearly, Browning is portraying the duke (at least his fictional representation) as the murderer of his last duchess. However, he sets it up in such a way that this is only briefly mentioned or hinted at in one line near the end of the poem. The piece is not focused on what the duke has done wrong, but rather on how the duchess gave her affections freely to so many other men, to the point of ingratitude and perhaps, infidelity. Because this darker notion is concealed so well in the poem, it not only fits the duke's mysterious and embittered character, but it also allows Browning to get away with saying what he truly believes happened to the duchess in an inexplicit manner. The duke in the poem is essentially admitting his crime, but he is very clever and cautious by only hinting at what happened, not giving everything away. Browning is stating his claim in a similar manner through how he has written the poem– he is hinting that the duke killed his wife, but the ending is subtle enough that it could stem multiple interpretations.

Explication: Shelley's England in 1819

An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,--
Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn,--mud from a muddy spring,--
Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,          5
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,--
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,--
An army, which liberticide and prey
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,--
Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;          10
Religion Christless, Godless--a book sealed;
A Senate,--Time's worst statute unrepealed,--
Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.

Large Issues

     The speaker of the poem is clearly dramatizing the current state of England in 1819, hence the title. The theme of the poem is obviously very dark and pessimistic. It questions the present established power's ability to rule. The identity of the speaker here is not quite clear; as in the case of "To Wordsworth", the speaker could be Shelley himself, but I am more inclined to believe that the speaker's identity is purposely made ambiguous due to the fact that many people in England felt this way at the time it was written. The audience of the poem is, arguably, just as ambiguous. The speaker could be addressing citizens of other nations who may not have a full understanding of the dire situation that England is in. Another possibility is that the speaker is merely documenting this for future generations in order for them to understand how their ancestors must have felt at this time. The third possibility I see is that the speaker is simply lamenting his or her emotions. As far as plot goes, the poem does not necessarily move anywhere, it is really just a description of how the speaker views England. The speaker's motivation to speak at this moment is clearly based in feelings of despair and disbelief regarding the state of his or her country.

Details

     Form- in terms of meter, the poem is considered a sonnet. However, the rhyme scheme varies greatly from traditional sonnets as it is structured as ABABABCDCDCCDD. It should also be noted that all of the subjects of the first six lines are that of nobility. It is only after these lines that the speaker mentions everyone else. It is in this way that the structure of the poem is out of order, underlining the speaker's sentiments regarding England at the time.

     Rhetoric- the speaker's statements are mainly descriptive in nature, as the poem is really just one large description. Nothing about the rhetoric really seems odd in any way.

     Syntax– the first twelve lines of the poems contain subjects, verbs, and objects that are all primarily negative or have negative actions. 

     Vocabulary- as in the case with the poem's syntax, most of the vocabulary is very negative, dark, or pessimistic in nature.

Patterns

     Rhetorical Patterns- many of the lines begin with a subject, then go on to describe that subject in the rest of the line and the line after, such as lines 7–9: "A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,--/An army, which liberticide and prey/Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,--".

     Figurative Language- the poem is full of dark similes and metaphors, such as comparing nobles to rulers to leeches and princes to "mud from a muddy spring". It is mainly through this that the speaker's overall cynicism is achieved. 

Explication: Shelley's "To Wordsworth"

Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know
That things depart which never may return:
Childhood and youth, friendship, and love's first glow,
Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn.
These common woes I feel. One loss is mine          5
Which thou too feel'st, yet I alone deplore.
Thou wert as a lone star whose light did shine
On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar:
Thou hast like to a rock-built refuge stood
Above the blind and battling multitude:          10
In honoured poverty thy voice did weave
Songs consecrate to truth and liberty.
Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve,
Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.

Large Issues

     The main theme this poem seems to be addressing is change. The speaker claims that the things that he/she and Wordsworth both enjoyed in the past are now gone, but the speaker is addressing a change in Wordsworth as well. The speaker is saying to Wordsworth that he once "wert as a lone star whose light did shine", whose "voice did weave/Songs consecrate to truth and liberty", but he no longer represents any of this, much to the dismay of the speaker. As for the speaker's identity, it could likely be Shelley, however I acknowledge the fact that the speaker could possibly be a reader of Wordsworth's poems, due to the fact that the "woes" he feels are "common". In either case, the speaker is someone who is disappointed to see that Wordsworth's work has lost the spark that it had originally. The audience here is likely Wordsworth, since it is addressed and specifically focused toward him.

Details

     Form– for the most part, the piece follows the structure of a traditional sonnet, with an ABAB rhyme scheme. However it breaks this scheme at lines 9-10, the only couplet in the poem.

     Rhetoric– lines 1-6 seem to have very polite, sympathetic language. Starting with line 7, the rhetoric changes so that the speaker is now directly addressing Wordsworth, and it is very strong up until line 12. Lines 13 and 14 seem to reflect the more somber tone of the first six lines.

     Syntax- again, the syntax seems to imply that the speaker is either Shelley or a common person. None of it seems to be convoluted or vague.

     Vocabulary- the phrase "rock-built refuge" in line 9  illustrates just how strong the speaker once perceived Wordsworth, as well as adding to the powerful and serious tone of that section. In line 12, it is interesting that Shelley chose to use the word "consecrate", because the word has both literal and religious connotations.

Patterns

     Rhetorical Patterns- as I mentioned above, lines 13 and 14 seem to follow the same pattern as the first six lines. Lines 7 and 9 are the most direct in the entire poem, as they both are direct statements beginning with "Thou".

     Rhyme- the only place where rhyme seems to have any inherent significance seems to be in lines 9-10, but this is likely because the poem shifts its tone at this point.