Death of Marilyn Monroe
“The Death of Marilyn Monroe” by Edwin Morgan
The poem “The Death of Marilyn Monroe” by Edwin Morgan explores the themes of isolation and loneliness throughout. The poem does this by adding in the use of imagery and tone. This poem by Morgan examines the theme of isolation by looking at the situation that Marilyn Monroe was in at the height of her fame. The poet looks at how Monroe was treated and how desolate she was even though she was surrounded by the likes of the press and she was constantly in the public eye. I am going to discuss how isolated Marilyn Monroe was and how Morgan carried this theme of isolation throughout the poem with the imagery, grammar and structure.
The poem begins with a set of fast paced rhetorical questions: “What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?” almost like a group of reporters or the press questioning her, maybe even interrogating her every move. These questions have a very accusing tone, almost confusing. However after the first line of this poem, the pace slows down with the lines of: “Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed, white hearse, Los Angeles,”
This could be referring to how isolated Monroe was. The use of “crumpled” could link back to her life and how everything was caving in on her at that time before her death. Also the use of “orphan” is almost suggesting that she was nobody’s child, maybe she even had a broken life by the demands of the life she led. “White hearse,” it could be argued that it is looking at how her death was almost like the death of a child. She was a product of America. Marilyn Monroe was being thrown into the limelight; the American public thought that they possessed her. She was becoming a major Hollywood actress almost overnight and the public thought that they were the ones who
The poem “The Death of Marilyn Monroe” by Edwin Morgan explores the themes of isolation and loneliness throughout. The poem does this by adding in the use of imagery and tone. This poem by Morgan examines the theme of isolation by looking at the situation that Marilyn Monroe was in at the height of her fame. The poet looks at how Monroe was treated and how desolate she was even though she was surrounded by the likes of the press and she was constantly in the public eye. I am going to discuss how isolated Marilyn Monroe was and how Morgan carried this theme of isolation throughout the poem with the imagery, grammar and structure.
The poem begins with a set of fast paced rhetorical questions: “What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?” almost like a group of reporters or the press questioning her, maybe even interrogating her every move. These questions have a very accusing tone, almost confusing. However after the first line of this poem, the pace slows down with the lines of: “Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed, white hearse, Los Angeles,”
This could be referring to how isolated Monroe was. The use of “crumpled” could link back to her life and how everything was caving in on her at that time before her death. Also the use of “orphan” is almost suggesting that she was nobody’s child, maybe she even had a broken life by the demands of the life she led. “White hearse,” it could be argued that it is looking at how her death was almost like the death of a child. She was a product of America. Marilyn Monroe was being thrown into the limelight; the American public thought that they possessed her. She was becoming a major Hollywood actress almost overnight and the public thought that they were the ones who