• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Guido's use of metaphor in Book XI of The ring and the book : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey University

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    01_front.pdf (284.2Kb)
    02_whole.pdf (3.312Mb)
    Export to EndNote
    Abstract
    Little has been written directly on the use of metaphor in The Ring and the Book, although there are four critics who do make some attempt to discuss the effects of Browning's extensive use of figurative lan­guage. Each of these critics acknowledges his inadequacy in this area and is satisfied with simply asserting a proposition. Altick and Loucks in their book, Browning's Roman Murder Story1 , admit their differing views on the way metaphor is used in The Ring and the Book, and therefore make their observations individually. The "first author" suggests that each metaphor is used so exten­sively and in such contradictory contexts that any metaphor which entered the poem with "generally well-defined connotations" ceases to have any clearly defined meaning by the time it has been used by a number of different monologuists. Thus, "The protean quality of language has been amply demonstrated, but so has the weakness of language as a dependable means of communication. Metaphors, it turns out, are at the mercy of human motives..."2. Metaphor, in the view of this author, becomes an inadequate means of communication and an unreliable moral indicator. For example, the Adam and Eve myth is used extensively in the poem, and in normal usage the serpent is accepted as a symbol of evil. However, by the time the poem has ended the serpent has been used to describe Guido, Violante and Pompilia by various speakers. Since this symbol of evil cannot be used to adequately describe both Guido and Pompilia, the symbol or metaphor ceases to have value as a moral indicator. The implications of this view are complex. If we consider the poem in terms of plot, then metaphor becomes somewhat irrelevant, since it cannot assist us in our attempt to form a judgement of the protagonists. But if we consider the poem in terms of what the author is trying to reveal about the problems of language and communication, then the under­mining of the meaning of metaphors becomes crucial. This will be discussed more fully in a later chapter. [From Introduction]
    Date
    1984
    Author
    O'Connor, Lisa
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/14177
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2023.7-7
     

     

    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2023.7-7