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Marcus Jean-Jacques Professor Stephenson English 1020E April 3rd

Both Robert Browning and William Butler Yeats express their view on art through their poetry and both artists view art as enduring when compared to the transience of life. There are, however, strong differences in their attitude towards the artist and art; Browning believes that the artist and the art he creates are subject to moral criticism while Yeats holds a much more positive view of artists and believes that they are beyond criticism. In Brownings Porphyrias Lover, Porphyria returns to her lovers home and takes her place by his side where she is strangled with her own hair. After Porphyria dies her lover manipulates her body propping her head up as before (49) to make it appear as if she were still alive. Her body, which has not stirred (59) throughout the night, has been made analogous to a sculpture with her lover analogous to the sculptor. In effect, the lover creates a tableaux vivant through his manipulation of Porphyrias body. Although Porphyrias life has ending the art created through the manipulation of her body still endures. Likewise in Brownings My Last Duchess the duchess, who could be presumed dead, continues to live on only through the painting made by Fra Pandolfs hands (3) which captures her earnest glance (8). Yeats also holds a similar view that art is enduring when compared to the transient nature of life. Yeats Lapis Lazuli begins with the speaker making fun of the hysterical women (1) who fear that Aeroplane and Zeppelin will come out/Pitch like King Billing Bomb-balls in/until

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the town is left beaten flat (6-8). The speaker knows that unless something drastic is done (5) death by bomb-balls (7) is the fate that awaits the women. The transient nature of life is mentioned from the very start of the poem and it is contrasted with how art is viewed towards the end of the poem. The fourth stanza describes an art work, three Chinamen carved in Lapis Lazuli (38). Over them fly a long-legged bird,/ A symbol of longevity (39-40). By placing a symbol of longevity (40) directly over the artwork, Yeats is suggesting that unlike the life of the hysterical women (1), who may soon be bombed to death, art is enduring. He further emphasis this in the last stanza of the poem. The carving of the three Chinamen has endured Every discoloration of the stone/ Every accidental crack or dent (43-44) which seems a watercourse or an avalanche (45). By deliberately repeating the word every (43) in the first two lines of the last stanza, Yeats further emphasis arts endurance compared to lifes transients. These similarities, however, do not overshadow the contrasting views on the artist and art. The type and form of Brownings poems support the view that the artist should be subject to moral criticism. Both Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess are dramatic monologues, which create characters distinct from the poet, with their own voice and personality for the reader to judge. Porphyrias lover is written in very irregular iambic pentameter which compliments the abnormal personality of the speaker and emphasis the fact his frame of mind is not that of a regular person. At the exact moment Porphyrias lover strangled her (41) in the poem, a caesura is placed. The pause after her (41) in the middle of the line creates a moment of silence, to both recognize and contemplate the murder which has taken place. The form of the poem helps the reader to judge the speaker who has made the objectification of a Porphyria into a form of art. Although the death in Brownings My Last Duchess isnt explicitly stated, the moment where the duchess death is implied is also marked by a caesura. The speaker states that

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he gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together (45-46) which implies that he commanded that she be put to death. A caesura, placed after the word together (46), creates a moment of silence to again recognize and contemplate on the implied murder. The content of both Porphyrias lover and My Last Duchess also suggests that Browning believes that the artist should be subjected to moral scrutiny. In Porphyrias Lover, immediately after the reader finds out that Porphyria has been killed, the speaker says in his defense No pain she felt, I am quite sure she felt no pain. (42) The speaker has obviously said something incredulous, twice immediately following Porphyrias death. The absurdity of his statement pushes the reader to distrust the speaker, and critique the morality of his actions. The speaker also undermines himself by exclaiming at the end of the poem And yet God has not said a word! In this quote, he clearly expresses some expectations of divine recognition for this action, most likely in the form of punishment. Like Porphyrias Lover, the content in My Last Duchess prompts the reader regularly to judge the speaker from the very start of the poem. The poem is called My Last Duchess and the word last has important significance. It shows that the speaker has been married, but the reader unaware as to how many times he has been married and how many duchesses he has had. It also raises the question as to whether there was duchess before his last that faced the same grim fate and whether his next duchess will face a similar demise. Moving from the title to the poem itself, there are several references to the negative aspects of speakers character which can be critically evaluated from a moral standpoint. The speaker is presented as condescending, and incapable of expressing himself. His condescending nature is demonstrated through his discontent with his last duchess thanking men as if she ranked (32) his gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name/ With anybodys gift (33-34) . He clearly believes that his title affords him much more thanks and praise. He freely admits that

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he doesnt have any skill in speech (36) which is shown by his inability to make his will/ Quite clear to (36-37) his last duchess. Although the speaker may not be considered an artist himself like Porphyrias lover, he appears to be an art lover. In both poems by Browning, the artist and art lover are clearly meant to be judged from a moral standpoint. How the artist is viewed and his motives for creating the art have a strong impact on how the art itself is viewed. The artist, who happens to be the speaker in Porphyrias Lover, could be described as abnormal; he frequently makes mention of Porphyrias hair which suggesting of fetishizing. He could also be described as mentally unstable; he kills his lover, laughs after murdering her, and holds her corpse next to him throughout the night. By most readers this artist would most likely be deserving of their contempt which will affect how the art is viewed. The motive for creating art in Porphyrias Lover appears to be the objectification of Porphyria, by literally turning her into an object, a corpse. How the artist is viewed together with the motives for creating the art takes precedence over the beauty of the art itself. Porphyrias blue eyes without a stain (45) as well as her smiling rose little head (52) and overall expression have been preserved by her lover choosing to kill her at that moment. The reader is therefore pushed to judge the art from a moral perspective decide whether beauty of art takes precedence over morality of producing it. Like the artist, the art is viewed as abnormal and deserving of contempt rather than praise regardless of how beautiful Porphyria may appear. The reader is also pushed to judge art from a moral perspective in the poem My Last Duchess. The speaker refers to a painting of his presumably dead wife and calls that piece a wonder now (3). When referring to the piece (3) the speaker is likely referring to his wife as the object rather than simply the painting. The caesura between the words wonder and now emphasis that its at the present moment that piece(3) is a wonder(3) and not necessarily before that time. This implies that

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now that his wife is dead she has become a wonder. By both replacing and equating her presence with the painting, the speaker now has complete dominance and control over her which is was unable to have before. The speakers need to dominate and appreciation of art glorifying dominance is shown near the end of the dramatic monologue when he refers to statue of Neptune taming a sea horse, thought a rarity,/ Which Clause of Innsbuck cast in bronze(55-56). The statue is a rarity (55) so its likely to superior artwork. Being cast in bronze and featuring a god is also likely to add value and beauty to the artwork. Both the painting of the last duchess and the statue maybe beautiful works of art, but they support the objectification of women and dominance over others. When the art is placed in this context the reader is forced to judge the art not only from an aesthetic point of view but from a moral point of view. Given the motives that went into producing the two works of art it is less likely to be upheld by the reader. Yeats, on the other hand does not view artists as subject to moral criticism. In Yeats poem, Leda and the Swan, Zeus in the form of a swan rapes Leda who is powerless to resist, and is then dropped by his indifferent beak (15). Before Leda is dropped, he manipulates her body holding her helpless breast upon his breast (4) with her nape caught in his bill (3). The manipulation of Ledas body is similar the manipulation of Porphyrias body by her lover. In both poems there is an implied tableaux vivant as well as a referenced to god. When god is referenced in Porphyrias lover there is the expectation that the speaker will be judged for his actions or at least should be. When god is referenced in Leda and the Swan, god is the artist creating the tableaux vivant and he is one committing the rape. The representation of the artist as a powerful indifferent figure places the artist above any form of moral criticism. Yeats further emphasises that artists are above moral criticism in Lapis Lazuli, regarding them as superior to other individuals. The speaker starts the poem by first insulting those who are not artists, calling

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them hysterical. This reproach is a reaction to women (1) who are sick of palette and fiddle-bow (2), instruments used to produce art, as well as Poets who are always gay (3), the artists themselves. From the start of the poem the speaker is clearly defending the artist belittling those who are not. In the last stanza of Lapis Lazuli artists are symbolized by three Chinamen who the speaker delights to imagine them seated there; /There, on a mountain and the sky/ On all the tragic scene they stare (50-52). The artists are placed on a mountain (51) above those who are not artists. Those who are not artists, including the hysteria women who criticism them, are likely a part of the tragic scene (52) below and unable to criticism the artists above them. One of the reasons Yeats places the artist above moral criticism is because of his very positive view of artists as people who, inspired by suffering, create art that transcends it. The performers in Lapis Lazuli who play the part of Hamlet and Lear transfigure all that dread (17) which is a part of the play and transform it into art through their performance. The ability to transform all that dread (17) which exists in the world is also true of other arts such as the musician. When the speaker imagines the three Chinamen, staring on all the tragic scene (52) one of them asks for mournful melodies (53). The tragic scene serves as inspiration for the music. Because the music is played by accomplished fingers (54) its also likely to be beautiful form of art, so from the suffering, something beautiful that transcends it is produced. Yeats view that the artist builds rather than destroys also suggests a very positive view of artists. In Lapis Lazuli, the speaker defends the artist by saying that Old civilisations put to the sword (27) are No handiwork of Callimachus (29). Callimachus, a sculptor, represents the artist. Although he is not accountable for the destruction of the old civilisations (27), he is praised for making draperies that seemed to rise (31). By contrasting the falling down of

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civilizations with draperies that seemed to rise (31), Yeats shows the positive influence of the artist. Referring to the poets, performers and musicians as gay (3) Yeats also makes it clear that when All things fall and are built again (35) it is the artist who build them up because those that build them again are gay (36). The very different views of two poets are reflective of the differences in point of view that span across periods of English literature. The two Poets however bring diverse perspective that have equal validity and change how art is viewed. Brownings contribution allows for a more critical view of what art represents from a moral stand point and Yeats contribution shows that even tragedies can both inspire the creation of art.

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Works Cited Browning, Robert. Porphyrias Lover. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2006. Browning, Robert. My Last Duchess. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2006.

Yeats, Williams. Lapis Lazuli. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2006. Yeats, Williams. Leda and the Swan. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2006.