Narrative Perspectives in Robert Brownings My Last Duchess and Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillado

Narrative Perspectives in Robert Brownings My Last Duchess and Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillado One of the reasons why the story The Cask of Amontillado (Edgar Allan Poe) and the poem My Last Duchess (Robert Browning) are being commonly referred to, as such that represent a particularly high value, is that the narrative perspective chosen by the authors to highlight the discursive significance of the contained themes and motifs, does add to the perceptual plausibility of the concerned storylines.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Narrative Perspectives in Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, while reflecting upon the motif of murder, Poe and Browning succeeded in convincing readers that it was specifically the very psychological constitution of both protagonists (Alfonso Ferrara and Montresor), which naturally predetermined their behavioral maliciousness. In my paper, I wi ll explore the validity of this suggestion at length. After having been introduced to the characters of Montresor (The Cask of Amontillado) and Alfonso Ferrara (My Last Duchess), we inevitably conclude that they seem to interact with the surrounding reality similarly. One of the reasons for this is that these characters’ foremost psychological trait appears to be their traditional-mindedness. This is exactly the reason why Montresor decides to take a revenge on the character of Fortunato, whose very appearance presupposes his psychological incompatibility with the notion of tradition: â€Å"He had on a tightfitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells† (Poe 3). Apparently, Fortunato was dressed as a jester. Yet, as historians are being well aware of, jesters have always been known for their reputation of ‘violators of tradition’. Therefore, the Mortresor’s deep-seated hatred of his ‘friend’ Fortu nato can be well discussed in terms of ‘intellectual advancement’ vs. ‘tradition. It is specifically the fact that the story’s protagonist unconsciously perceived Fortunato, as being much more intellectually superior then himself, that prompted Montresor to become obsessed with the thought of revenge. Essentially the same thesis applies to the character of Alfonso in My Last Duchess. Being the traditionally-minded ‘man of stature’, Alfonso believed that in their relationships with husbands, wives must remain thoroughly submissive.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is exactly the reason why, while proceeding with his monologue, Alfonso expresses its ill-concealed annoyance with his wife’s flirtatiousness: She had a heart how shall I say? too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whateer She looked on, and her looks went everywhere (Browning 22-34). Apparently, Alfonso could not stand a thought that, being made of flesh and blood; it was perfectly natural for his wife to feel flirtatious at times. Thus, it can be well assumed that it is specifically the hypertrophied sense of a ‘traditional propriety’, which defined the essence of Montresor and Alfonso’s existential modes. In its turn, this created an objective precondition for them to be individuals who strived to adjust the de facto reality around them to be consistent with the ideological provisions of their ‘overvalued idea’. Consequently, this was causing Montresor and Alfonso to adopt an active stance, while denying the legitimacy of the idea that one’s life represents the greatest value of all. Therefore, there is nothing utterly surprising about the fact that, while elaborating upon their unholy deeds, both characters would do it in a strongly cynical manner.Advertising We will w rite a custom essay sample on Narrative Perspectives in Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is exactly the reason why the Montresor and Alfonso’s use of irony/sarcasm emanates the spirit of Freudian ‘uncanny’ – while sounding ironic, both characters reveal that, even though appearing as humans on the outside, they are in fact bloodthirsty monsters on the inside. For example, there is a memorable scene in The Cask of Amontillado, where Montresor tries to talk Fortunato out of his decision to climb down the cellar, in search of Amontillado: â€Å"We will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed† (6). What is especially chilling about the above-mentioned sarcastic statement, on the part of Montresor, is that; while appearing to be merely concerned with the protagonist’s wish not to allow his ‘friend’ to become ill, it actually reflects the sheer measure of the main character’s commitment to take a revenge on Fortunato. Apparently, it was not only that Montresor wanted to ‘savor’ the approaching demise of Fortunato, but he also strived to make sure that his ‘friend’ does not reconsider its decision to venture down the cellar (the application of the so-called ‘reverse psychology’ method). Browning’s deployment of the rhetorical device of sarcasm/irony in the poem also serves the purpose of enlightening readers about the fact that, despite being a socially prominent individual, it was in Alfonso’s very nature to treat people in terms of a soulless commodity. For example, even though Alfonso does not explicitly state that he murdered his wife, the following excerpt leaves no doubts that this was the actual case: Oh, sir, she smi led, no doubt, Wheneer I passed her; but who passed withoutAdvertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive (43-47). Alfonso could have well admitted to killing his wife in plainer terms. This, however, would have deprived his character of a perceptual genuineness, as a hypocritical moralist, capable of simultaneously expounding on the subject of decency, on the one hand, and acting as a thoroughly immoral psychopath, on the other. Nevertheless, it would be inappropriate to suggest that the specifics of both literary works’ narrative perspectives are solely concerned with the Browning and Poe’s intention to expose the mental inadequateness of Alfonso and Montresor, but also with their desire to provide readers with a preliminary clue, as to what should be considered this inadequateness’s actual root. The validity of this suggestion can be shown in regards to another memorable scene in The Cask of Amontillado. In this scene, after having chained Fortunato to the wall, and after having listened to his screams for a while, Motresor begins to scream in return: â€Å"A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back†¦ I reproached the wall. I replied to the yells of him who clamored. I reechoed I aided I surpassed them in volume and in strength† (9). Apparently, Poe was well aware of the fact that religious individuals, strongly affiliated with ‘traditional values’, are psychologically inclined towards deriving an emotional pleasure out of savoring the intensity of a particular emotion – regardless of whether this emotion happened to be positive or negative. This is the reason why in Latin American countries, thousands of people request to be crucified, during the course of Catholic religious celebrations – by doing it, they derive a pleasure out of savoring their own sensation of pain. While exposed to the spectacle, th e crowds of spectators savor the physical pain of these religious fanatics with essentially the same degree of intensity (Butler 274). In a similar manner, by screaming even louder than Fortunato, Monresor sadistically enjoyed the pain of his ‘friend’. After all, it does not represent much of a secret to psychologists that sadism and masochism usually go hand in hand, with the notion of masochism being nothing but euphemistically sounding synonym to the notion of a monotheistic religiosity. This explains why, before placing the last stone in the immurement-wall, Montreser exclaimed: â€Å"For the love of God!† (10) – after having experienced a sadistic/semi-religious ecstasy, while exposed to Fortunato’s pain, Montresor was able to convince himself that what he had done was indeed godly. The particulars of the deployed narrative perspective in My Last Duchess, also appear to serve the function of providing readers with an in-depth insight into the a ctual causes of Alfonso’s behavioral abnormality. The legitimacy of this suggestion can be explored in relation to the manner, in which Browning’s poem ends: At starting, is my object. Nay, well go Together down, Sir! Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me (53-57). What this statement implies, is that throughout the course of his life, Alfonso never ceased experiencing the acute lack of an emotional empathy towards the people, with which he used to socialize. The reason for this is apparent – in Alfonso’s mind, there is no qualitative difference between the painting of his former wife, on the one hand, and the statue of Neptune, on the other. This is because he is able to swiftly switch the focus of his cognitive attention from one to another with ease. As of today, however, one’s inability to experience the sensation of empathy to his or her close relatives is often being looked upon, as the proof of the concerned individual’s mental illness. For example, it is by observing the lack of such empathy in young children that psychologists are able to come up with a preliminary diagnosis of autism (Tager-Flusberg 312). Thus, it will not be much of an exaggeration to suggest, even though the Browning’s poem and Poe’s novel were written before the very concept of psychology came into being, the themes and motifs, contained in these literary masterpieces, do correlate with what happened to be the recent breakthroughs in the field this particular science. As such, these literary works can be deemed truly enlightening – after having been exposed to them, readers do become more knowledgeable of the fact that there is indeed a good rationale in thinking about one’s strong adherence to the provisions of a conventional morality, as such that extrapolates the concerned individual’s mental abnormality. As it was implied in the Int roduction, the literary appeal of Poe’s novel and Browning’s poem cannot be thought of in terms of a ‘thing in itself’. It is namely due to both literary masterpieces’ discursive progressiveness, reflected by the authors’ awareness of what account for the innermost predicaments of people’s behavior, that The Cask of Amontillado and My Last Duchess continue to be valued by readers. Apparently, after having read them, people are able to increase the extent of their existential fitness, as their exposure to the earlier discussed literary works naturally increases the measure of their awareness of what are the behaviorally observable manifestations of one’s mental inadequateness. I believe that this conclusion fully correlates with the paper’s initial thesis. Butler, Matthew. â€Å"Mexican Nicodemus: The Apostleship of Refugio Padilla, Cristero, on the Islas Marà ­as.† Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 25.2 (2009): 271-306. Print. Tager-Flusberg, Helen. â€Å"Evaluating the Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis of Autism.†Ã‚  Current Directions in Psychological Science 16.6 (2007): 311-315. Print. Browning, Robert 1842, My Last Duchess. Web. Poe, Allan Edgar 1846, The Cask of Amontillado. Web.

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Maintaining a True Friendship Making friends for a lot of us comes naturally, but maintaining these friendships may become somewhat difficult. This is because true friendship cannot survive without these three aspects: Love, Respect and Honesty. If any of these aspects are lacking in the friendship, it will slowly disintegrate. True friendship needs equal shares of love, respect and honesty. Therefore, to maintain true friendship, you need the whole package, just not apart of it. Love is naturally a part of any relationship. In a friendship, love can mean so many things. It means being there when your friend needs you, no matter what the circumstances may be. It means listening to your friend’s problems and giving them advice to help them out when they are not sure what to do. Or l...

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KPIs and PRP as the drive in organisations - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 804 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? With the use of at least two detailed examples critically examine the view that organisational targets, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Performance Related Pay (PRP) are the modern engines that drive the assembly lines of many contemporary organisations When approaching this topic it is clearly important to have the correct and concise knowledge of just what Taylorism and Fordism are and how intrinsically important they were and are within the confines of the industrial revolution and modern business today. Many people believe that it is Henry Ford alone to whom we can attribute the immense growth and success of capitalism, for it was the mass expansion and methods of his work with Ford which created a model for so many other companies to follow in his wake. He was a master at reducing labour costs, and production costs with the effect that retail costs could therefore be brought down, resulting in an increase in overall sales and therefore profit. Ant onio Gramsci called Fordism; ‘an ultra-modern form of production and of working methods such as is offered by the most advanced American variety, the industry of Henry Ford.’ Ford discovered a way to mass produce a product so cheaply that he could make it available to the common man, reduce it’s exclusivity and therefore allow it to become something which was marketed at base level and therefore desired by millions who suddenly discovered something was within their grasp and strived to afford it naturally increasing sales. Frederick Taylor is equally to be celebrated within the modern world of business, for it is him who developed division of labour, and a wage system based on performance. These are two standard usages in business today. Taylor himself described these as; ‘merely the elements or details of the mechanisms of management’ Indeed, now, these tactics are so widely used and considered such logical means of extracting more p roficient labour that it is difficult to remember a time when they were not implicated. So, it is with these initial points in mind that we approach where we have reached and developed these initial ideas today. Key Performance Targets and Performance Related Pay are surely the children of what was once Taylor’s idea of division of labour and performance based wage systems. KPI’s and PRP’s are indeed implicated in massive organisations the world over, successfully. To illustrate the success of these methods we will use two examples of substantial size and profitability, indeed, since he began it all, let us take the company of Ford, and the ever growing conglomerate that is Tesco. Some are of the opinion that the way in which company’s are run has not changed much in the past fifty years, that the ‘assembly line’ is still essentially what is used to motivate workers to produce. Large company’s such as Ford who were once pioneers of the assembly line now use organisational targets, KPI’s and PRP’s to motivate their workers. These work in the way that where people once became more efficient because they stood at the assembly line and each had their own part to add to the product making the process more time efficient, motivators are now used to make the actual production of the work from the individual greater. Depending on the level of management, different forms of motivation are used to achieve this. Ford are particular believers in PRP. Performance Related Pay is used throughout management levels with higher management to encourage them to constantly creatively find ways to make their men work more efficiently, because not only do they get rewarded for this, but the person in the management position gets rewarded depending on their output. This is often in the form of capped or uncapped commission added onto their basic salary. If a target is reached, X amount of commission is awarded. Thes e targets are then segregational, performance related targets being offered to the individual at base level for achieving a certain number of sales, producing a certain number of products depending on what sector of the business they work in. There is then a pyramid effect, the person in management of this department, gets commission for each one of his workers hitting their targets, and he also has a departmental target to hit, it is his job to ensure that his team are happy, motivated and working well, because it is in his interests that they hit their own targets, and therefore the overall target, netting him his own performance related bonus. This method works right up the strata to the very top, and ensures that every member of the organisation, no matter how huge, has a reason and indeed a desire to work hard and be productive because they will be rewarded for it at the end. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "KPIs and PRP as the drive in organisations" essay for you Create order