The Laboratoryby

Robert Browning

Commentary on the poem

The time is the Ancien Regime..

France in the18th century

A time of privilege for the aristocrats

A time for love affairs at court

But in a laboratory…

Away from the court..

A lady is plotting to murder her rival

withPOISONCRIME of PASSION

Where the people associated with

the King meet

In the laboratory the lady talks to the alchemist - the “old man.”

It’s a dramatic monologue

We only hear the voice of the lady never the alchemist

We build up a picture of what’s happening

She has asked him to make a poison that can be

given to her rival in love

She is with him in the laboratory as he prepares it

We learn about the “story”

The lady is curious about the alchemist’s methods

Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,May gaze thro' these faint smokes curling whitely,

She wears a mask to protect her from the fumes

She goes to the laboratory- to observe

Makes the process seem mysterious and beautifulShe is looking intently

Through description Browning has established that the lady is taking more than

a casual interest

It’s made clear that the lady is speaking to someone

As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy--Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

Informal 2nd person Establishes relationship- she is the social superior

The laboratory - where evil work

is carried out

As a creator of poisons

Pray thee -please

A polite request about a sinister action

Repetition of poison makes

it more sinister

Establishesvictim’sgender

The question is direct- nothingto hide

The lady speaks quickly and eagerly

He is with her; and they know that I knowWhere they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow

While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drearEmpty church, to pray God in, for them! -- I am here.

= strong stress

=weak stressThe rhythm of the poem, written in dactyls, helps here

A dactyl= one strong stress followed by 2 weak stresses

The repetition also makes her seem excited

She finishes on a triumphant note

The lady likes to watch the poison being made

Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,Pound at thy powder, -- I am not in haste!

Better sit thus, and observe thy strange things,Than go where men wait me and dance at the King's

She can wait for her revenge

She’d rather be here

She doesn’t want the attention

of menNor the pleasures

of court life

She’s enjoying this stage in her revenge

She’s fascinated by the process and asks questions

That in the mortar -- you call it a gum?Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!

And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,Sure to taste sweetly, -- is that poison too?

Questions - show curiosity

Notice how beauty and good things are linked to death and poison

She points at things

Browning describes the scene through the eyes of the lady and what attracts her attention. This

is how he creates her character

It’s not just revenge, the lady is taking pleasure from the idea of carrying it out

Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!

The poisons

To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree-basket!

A ring Part that holds fan together

Made from twisted gold wire

She enjoys the idea of secret

power over people

The lady looks forward to giving the poison

Soon, at the King's, a mere lozenge to giveAnd Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!

But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her headAnd her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!

She’s looking forwardto the moment The court tablet

Her rival in love

Roll of paste - it kills through

the fumes

She is gleeful at the idea of death

Anotherrival

in love

She lingers on different parts of the victim's body: notice how she repeats the

pronoun “her”each time.

The lady grows impatient

Quick -- is it finished?

“the colour’s too grim”

And critical

She wants Pauline to take the poison

Let it brighten her drink

let her turn it and stir

try it and taste

ere she fix and prefer

Before Pauline can decide whether she likes it

By giving these details Browning is showing

the lady’s psychological state

We learn more of the back story

She's not little, no minion like me--That's why she ensnared him:

Little insignificant

Suggests Pauline is more powerful

What a drop!

She’s concerned that the poison is not strong enough to kill

This also suggests Pauline is a physically bigger woman

The lady tried to kill Pauline by staring at her

She spied on the two of them together

As they whispered

I broughtMy own eyes to bear on her

She hoped thatshe would fall,shrivelled

To wrinkle, to make smaller -picks up on the “size” of Pauline,

mentioned in previous stanza

It didn’t work She fell not

But the poison will.Yet this does it all!

The note of triumph shows she is desperate for revenge

She wants the death to be long and painful

Let death be felt and the proof remain:

Wants the method of death to be clear

She lingers on the details

Brand, burn up, bite into its grace-Alliteration emphasises these words

Words linked to pain and suffering attractivenessShe wants to see

good thingsdestroyed

She imagines the scene of death

He is sure to remember her dying face!

This shows she is deranged

The poison is ready Take my mask off!

Nay, be not moroseIt kills her,

She’s talking to the alchemist

sad

He may look sad because he is helping commit a murder

He’s had to listen to the details

She’s only concernedwhether it’s effective

my whole fortune's fee

This revenge is costing her everything:

it shows how much she desires it.

For a moment she considers whether the poison could be

turned against her.

beside, can it ever hurt me?

She's ready to leave the alchemist

The price of the poison is her jewellery

take all my jewels

gorge gold to your fill

You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!

She likes to be in control

Power,poison, death and sex are all linked together

But she is concerned about being poisoned accidentally

brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings

Her visit to the alchemist is over and she looks forward to returning to the court

next moment I dance at the King's

It sounds like she’s excited about an innocent pleasure

But we know she’s excited

about the prospect of murdering

her rival

Some gothic qualities in the poem

A deranged narrator

A sinister setting

secrets

madness

A story of a murder

Which other poems in the anthology have some of these qualities?

An evil plot

TSLAP

Write down for me:

• The theme of the poem

• The Structure

• The sort of language which is used (think about specific words, rhymes, tone)

• The attitudes of the speaker, poem, author perhaps

• The Purpose

Crimes of passion - discuss

A crime of passion refers to a crime in which the perpetrator commits a crime, especially assault or murder, against a loved one because of sudden strong impulse such as a jealous rage or heartbreak rather than as a premeditated crime. These crimes are often reported in detail in the media.

It’s sometimes argued that because the person was in love that the courts should treat these cases differently. Do you believe that this should happen? Does “provocation” provide any kind of defence?

Ruth Ellis “It's obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.”

The trial and punishment of Ruth Ellis became notorious as she was the last woman in England to be executed. The death penalty in the UK was suspended in 1965 and permanently removed in 1970. Ruth Ellis' family campaigned for her murder conviction to be reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation. Through the Criminal Cases Review Commission they brought the case to the Court of Appeal in September 2003. They argued Ellis was suffering "battered woman syndrome". She had suffered a miscarriage just 10 days before the killing after David Blakely had punched her in the stomach. But the appeal judges ruled she had been properly convicted of murder according to the law as it stood at the time. The defence of diminished responsibility did not then exist.

Murder most horrid…

Does the method of killing used in the “The Laboratory” make the crime of murder any worse?

Does the fact that the lady cold-bloodedly planned the murder and used poison make it a worse crime than if she had killed her lover in anger with a weapon?

tasks

1. Write a newspaper story based on the details in the poem concerning the planned murder. The headline should be “ Society Lady Poisoned at Court.” The article could focus on how the body was found, the tests being carried out, the list of suspects, the police investigations.

2. The diary of the alchemist – the old man who makes the poison in the poem. It could focus on the events in the poem told from his point of view, in the first person. As well as the details of his encounter with the lady it could deal with his feelings about creating poisons and his motivation for carrying out this kind of work.