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Essay / Browning's dramatic monologues, Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess, criticize the restrictive patriarchal values of Victorian society that suppressed women's efforts at individualism. Meanwhile, Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, condemns the pretense of an idealistic marriage within a social hierarchy through its female protagonist, Nora. Both composers ultimately demonstrate the implications of their characters' attempts to subvert societal expectations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Robert Browning's dramatic monologue, Porphyria's Lover, challenges the dominant patriarchal values of Victorian society by criticizing the trend of society to undermine the role of women. The 1800s saw a period of misogynistic values imposed on women in England, resulting in the stifling of their autonomy. However, Browning subverts these gender stereotypes through his portrait of Porphyria, who transgresses social conventions when she visits her lover at night. The pathetic fallacy of "The rain fell early tonight/The sullen wind soon awoke" establishes the character's unstable state of mind and foreshadows the consequences of Porphyria's independence. Additionally, after "laying down her soiled gloves" and "letting the damp hair fall," Browning characterizes Porphyria as a "fallen woman" who was condemned by Victorian society for her lewdness. Browning asserts Porphyria's self-determination through the use of polysyndeton in "And made her shoulder white and smooth...And spread, over all, her hair yellow", evoking a sensual atmosphere, which challenges Victorian constraints on the behavior of women. However, the repetition of "that moment she was mine, just mine" demonstrates a role reversal, which embodies her lover's objectification of Victorian women and his possessiveness. The consequences of female independence are revealed in "A Yellow Thread I Winded...And I Strangled Her", where Porphyria's hair, initially a symbol of her femininity, ends up silencing her, exaggerating the oppression Victorian women under patriarchal control. Browning finally uses the religious allusion: “And yet God has not said a word! » to ironically emphasize the acceptability of her lover's actions, unlike Porphyria's sexual autonomy which was condemned by patriarchal society. Thus, Browning condemns the suppression of women's sexuality in Victorian England by examining Porphyria's unconventional behavior. Meanwhile, Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, transgresses Victorian expectations of bourgeois women's submission to their husbands through Nora's failure to adhere to the domestic role assigned to her. Male dominance that restricted women's self-determination is established in Torvald's patronizing animal imagery, "my little lark...squirrel", reflecting the preconceived inferiority of Victorian women. This is reinforced in Ibsen's staging of Nora "playing with buttons without looking at it", where her childish frivolity reflects her subservient role in her relationship and demonstrates the patriarchal dominance of late 19th century society. Additionally, Torvald's condescending language towards Nora: "Just like a woman!...you know what I think." No debt! No borrowing! » illustrates society's presumption about women's financial irresponsibility. The presumed dependence of women in this era is further illustrated by Nora's friend Mrs. Linde's generalization, "A woman cannot borrow without her husband's permission." However, Nora transcendssocial expectations by “working and earning money.” Almost like a man” to repay the loan, a simile signifying her subversion of traditional gender roles, which mirrors Porphyria in Browning's poem. The frenetic tarantella dance accompanied by Ibsen's stage directions "[Nora's] hair is falling...she pays no attention to it" symbolizes growing independence and reflects her desire to free herself from societal expectations. Thus, Ibsen condemns the suppression of feminine conduct and emphasizes the need to overcome restrictive patriarchal values within society. Browning's dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess, also critiques the constraints of society by examining the consequences of a female individual's subversion of social pretenses and hierarchy. The Married Women's Property Act of 1882 allowed women to retain their property after divorce, exposing the façade of marriage as women abandoned their marital duties. The diminishing importance of women is established by the personal pronoun "my last duchess painted on the wall", where the work symbolizes the Duke's objectification of his late wife, reducing her existence to mere aesthetics. Through the parenthesis, “(since no one passes by/The curtain I drew for you but me)”, Browning illustrates the Duke's excessive pride towards his envoy when he presents his deceased wife as an object to validate their social status. The Duke's disapproval of his wife's "metaphorical point of joy... too quickly made happy, too easily impressed" embodies his patriarchal condemnation of her inherent kindness, which breaks down the class boundaries that Victorian women were expected to embody. Additionally, Browning describes the Duchess' weakening of the Duke's social standing through the symbolism of "She loved everything she looked at, and her look went everywhere", with negative connotations foreshadowing her downfall. The truncated sentences: “It grew; I gave orders” reflects the Duke's autocratic behavior and alludes to the disastrous consequences of the Duchess's inability to fulfill her role within the social hierarchy. Browning concludes the monologue with a mythical allusion, "Note Neptune, however,/Tame a seahorse," where the Roman god's dominance over a fragile creature foreshadows the duke's authority over his next wife. Therefore, Browning condemns the suppression of women in a class-conscious society through the repercussions of the Duchess's unorthodox behavior, and encourages greater female autonomy. However, unlike the submission of the Duchess in Browning's dramatic monologue, Ibsen denounces the pretension of marriage within society. social hierarchy that suppresses autonomy and advocates women's subversion of their domestic tasks to strengthen their identity. While Nora's costume as a "little fisherwoman from Capri" represents youth and sensuality, classic for 19th century women, the staging of "dancing more and more wildly" symbolizes her desire to free herself from her marital facade. . Nora's enactments as she "secretly puts the macarons in her pocket and wipes her mouth" demonstrate her forbidden consumption of sweets, signifying her desire for independence within a restrictive marriage. Furthermore, Nora carries out the pretense of her marriage, embodied in the symbolic “Change”. No more disguises”, where the clothing motif reveals the subversion of social expectations leading to its empowerment, unlike the duchess who fails to free herself from societal confinements. Nora's epiphany that "I am your wife doll, just like I was Daddy's baby doll" illustrates her.
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