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Theme Of Jealousy In Medusa And The Laboratory

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Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning presents jealousy at the core of their poems, ‘Medusa’ and ‘The Laboratory’. Duffy explores the jealousy felt by Medusa as she uses it to foster her growing power while Browning develops the notion of jealousy as one that is used to exact revenge over those who who have wronged the speaker. Both poems are presented in the form of dramatic monologues that describe how the women use their jealousy to ensure that their partners stay with them. Medusa uses her own power and strength to instill fear into her partner whereas the woman in ‘The Laboratory’ uses meticulous planning in preparing the poison that will kill the person who took her partner away from her.

Duffy presents jealousy as a woman in the form …show more content…

The first form of power which is reflected is seen through the ‘bullet tears in her eyes’. The word ‘bullet’ expresses the pain and anger Medusa had been through and presents the hatred she had towards her husband. Duffy shows the reader that although Medusa was emotionally scarred, jealousy has turned her tears into a weapon. This can be inferred, as a bullet comes out from a lethal weapon, a gun. Thus Duffy symbolises that her eyes shoots death at people when she looks at them. Duffy uses imagery by expressing the tears as a hard and cold object of death. This connotes that Medusa lacks all emotions but jealousy as it is the only emotion she uses to develop her strength. Her strength is further expressed when she poses the rhetorical question ‘Are you terrified?’, to which she responds “Be terrified.” This signifies how jealousy has provided her with immeasurable power that makes her a terrifying force. Her power continues to grow as she is revealed to be able to turn any animal - regardless of its size - into stone. Creatures as tiny as ‘a buzzing bee’ as well as larger animals like ‘a snuffling pig’ are unable to withstand her deathly glance as her power turns them into mere dust. The enjambment that is prevalent throughout the poem connotes the idea of how her jealousy is flowing without any punctuation. As she loses control over her jealousy, Medusa is …show more content…

This is shown when she goes to the ‘devil's-smithy’ to get the poison which will kill her rivals. The ‘devil's-smithy’ is a satanic blacksmith who is seen as the maker of a weapon - in this case, the poison. Her jealousy drives her to view the poison as something which is wonderful and exquisite. The ingredients used are regarded as ‘gold oozings’, ‘exquisite blue’ and ‘sure to taste sweetly.’ The word ‘gold’ connotes that the woman looks upon the ingredients which are used to make the poison as very precious objects. The adjective ‘exquisite’ implies that the poison appears to look extremely appealing. Additionally it is also regarded as something that would taste sweet, indicating that the poison produced is a substance that would appeal to all senses. Driven by her jealousy, the speaker is convinced that the weapon which she will be using in her plot for revenge would be very effective as it has been created from the best of

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