The Poem opens with a young Elizabeth harvesting apples with her father (King Henry VIII) and Uncle Jack (fictional character); preceded by a trip to the zoo. The atmosphere suddenly shifts from going to the zoo, to ice fishing with Philip (King of Spain) on a cold winter day. Abruptly, the atmosphere and time shifts again to describing Mary's (Elizabeth's stepsister) teeth. Then jumps to a dancing scene with Elizabeth's confidant, Tom (Lord Thomas Seymour), which is followed by the execution of Tom. Finally, the poem ends with a rather short description of Elizabeth writing poems with another confidant, the Earl of Essex.
The narrative lines and descriptive passages employed in "Elizabeth"� do not flow logically and coherently from point A to point B. The names do not appear to be in historical and chronological order; however, they fit into a generalized image of the political mayhem, betrayal, and punishments of that time. Elizabeth's stepsister "˜Bloody' Mary Tudor, Mary's husband Philip II of Spain, the unfortunate Lord Tom Seymour, and her late favorite, the Earl of Essex, were all executed.
Ondaatje's "Elizabeth"� alters from child-voice through adolescent-voice to adult-voice, catching the tone of each stage of maturity. Ondaatje's imitation of the tones shows how Elizabeth must, through debilitating maturity and complex situations, sacrifice passion to power, as how a young ruler would have to. For example in stanza three, Philip "broke the ice"�(19) and "then he [Philip] kissed me [Elizabeth]"�(22), suggests that love is deceitful, and is to be avoided. Furthermore in stanza five, "I kept the love in my palm till it blistered"�(34) connotes that love is painful and not time-worthy. Death is present and apparent in last stanzas as both threat and momento mori (remembrance for the dead), even to the young mischievous girl who "hid the apple in my room/ till it shrunk like a face/ growing eyes and teeth ribs"�(7-9).
The symbolic references to "apple"�(2) and "snake"�(12) conjure up the relationship between Elizabeth's life to that of Adam's and Eve's. The evil, deceptive snake in Adam and Eve convinces Eve to eat the apple, which in the end leads to her downfall. Elizabeth's father, King Henry VIII of England, compliments and sides with snake in the zoo, by describing it as "Smart"�(16). This siding of the snake might indicate to the readers of the residing evil within him. In stanza three, the image of ice fishing and eating raw, uncooked fish implies a primitive and uncivilized way of living. A primitive life is a dangerous one. The correlation between the snake, the father, and the primitiveness can lead to a sense of danger in Elizabeth's life. Elizabeth senses the danger and evades it by becoming sly and controlling. This is indicated by the tonal transition in as she slides from thoughts of "Tom, soft laughing"�(28) and "turning / with the rhythm of the sun on warped branches, / who'd hold my breast and watch it move like a snail / leaving his quick urgent love in my palm"�(30-34), to his beheading, and finally to her later "cool"�(44) flirtations "with white young Essex"�(45). Nevertheless, Elizabeth's control of voice captures the readers' attention.
"Elizabeth"� is one example of Ondaatje's attempts to defy traditional poetry writing. And he achieves it in the incoherency of events, the un-rhythmic lines and the irregular stanzas. Yet, the whole poem is a remarkable performance, and therefore remai
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In pages 243-250, Faulks uses the character of Elizabeth to introduce a new section of the story, England 1978. In this section Faulks uses third person narrative to tell the story from Elizabeth’s perspective in order to give an omniscient approach. Faulks uses third person narrative to present the reader with a wide range of different viewpoints from different characters. Faulks alludes to previous events that happened in part 2 but especially when he introduces part 3 like part 2 was introduced. Connotations of love and how life carried on after the wars are also presented in this extract.…
- 1037 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Upon her succession in 1558, Elizabeth I faced financial problems as well as many other major problems. One such problem was Elizabeth’s gender. In 1558, England had only experience the rule of one female monarch, Mary I, who had fuelled England’s belief that females could not be sufficient rulers of countries. Mary had fuelled this belief by being £300,000 in debt by the end of her reign, being in a war with France, murdering around 300 people due to her religious beliefs and marrying foreign royalty which handed her husband (Phillip II of Spain) joint rule over England. These problems made England believe that women were not capable of ruling countries adequately. The main issue England had with female monarchs was that they ‘needed’ to marry and in Mary I’s case, this meant that England became an ally of Spain (as she married Phillip II of Spain) and…
- 1755 Words
- 8 Pages
Good Essays -
Mary was the new Queen despite a widespread concern that she would insist on restoring Catholicism. Mary was a kind woman, but her predilection for executing Protestants would soon make her known as ‘Bloody Mary’. Elizabeth wrote her congratulations, and she was invited at Mary’s coronation. Mary demonstrated during Edward reign that she did not love Elizabeth, and now she was Queen she could make Elizabeth felt her dislike.…
- 706 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
All substantial threats to Elizabeth’s position as Queen were symptoms of the tension between Catholicism and Protestantism. The threats posed by Mary Queen of Scots, as well as those of the Spanish Armada of 1588 and the war with Spain (which dominated the last twenty years of Elizabeth’s reign), were consequences of a Catholic desire to gain supremacy in England. However, the extent to which the Catholic threat was centred on Mary Queen of Scots is debateable. Whilst she was undoubtedly a figurehead for Catholic opposition to Elizabeth’s rule and was the monarchical figure around whom several treasonous plots were designed, there is much evidence for the view that Mary became a focal point for a Catholic threat that would have existed even if she had been absent. The extent to which the structure given to the Catholic cause by Mary’s presence strengthened the Catholic threat is also debateable. There were others who could have become the rallying point for Catholic opposition (as Philip II of Spain did after Mary’s death), although none had as good a claim to the throne as Mary. A great threat was presented by Catholic opposition to Elizabeth’s rule, but Mary’s influence over this, and therefore the threat that she posed as an individual, may be called into question.…
- 1576 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Elizabeth had inherited the throne of England in 1558 from a Catholic queen Mary who had attempted to re-convert England back to Catholicism and to allow the country to take part in the Catholic reformation of Europe. The accession of Elizabeth was met with anxiety and tension as to discover what she was to do in response to religion and how the Catholic powers of Europe as well as the Catholics within England at the time would treat any changes. The immediate rise to power was met with little hostility as Elizabeth had made very cautious changes to start with as she thought it wise not to provoke hostility from abroad considering the position of England at the time as a small, weak protestant nation. The start of Elizabeth’s reign was fairly peaceful however tensions rose and a Catholic threat seemed more imminent as her reign drew to the end.…
- 2682 Words
- 11 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Many books regarding to Elizabeth in the past have failed to mention the fact that Elizabeth received an outstanding education when she was little. She could read and write fluently in four languages and also appeared to have been interested in religion as well as the sciences. Various documents written in her own hand prove her ability to write fluently (Craft 148). Countess Elizabeth, by all accounts, cared about her children and provided well for them. She made sure that her two daughters receive great wedding celebrations, partnering them with young men from prestigious families. Elizabeth also made certain that her son received fine education and that he would be the inheritor of her estate (Craft 52). The Countess also gave generously to the church, patronized scholars and the arts, and even protected incomes of the clergy (Craft 148). With all the evidence provided above, we wonder how someone as brilliant, poised, and wealthy as Countess Bathory could be sadistic and prolific serial…
- 1846 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
2.a) Who? — Who is the narrator (speaker) of the poem? Who are the other characters in the…
- 611 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Elizabeth I is a one of the main known rulers of England. She brought in the “Golden Age” of Britannia. Many books that are written about Elizabeth chronologically tell about her decisions and how they affect England and the rest of Europe. Most of the books are biographies but, Christopher Haigh’s book Elizabeth I is not merely a biography but a detailed account on how Elizabeth and the people around her influenced each other and how that affected Elizabeth’s reign. In Christopher Haigh’s book Elizabeth I: Profiles in Power, his main argument and thesis is that Elizabeth had to play a dangerous game throughout her life and rule to keep England balanced with illusion.…
- 650 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Even in the early stages of her childhood, Elizabeth Bathory was deemed to be insane, with her violent throes that were too dramatic to be tantrums, random seizures, and extreme fits of rage caused by epilepsy. Elizabeth’s family members were also of cruel blood. At an young age, Elizabeth witnessed her parents, her father’s officers, along with her uncle (Polish King Istvan Bathory) and other members in her family's home dehumanize and mistreat peasants in the estate area as well as their own servants. One significant event in her childhood that historians can agree may have triggered Elizabeth’s later years of cold-blooded acts was the instant where a gypsy thief was caught stealing from a market and, as punishment, sewn into the dying stomach of a horse and left to perish. This gypsy’s death was presented as a public spectacle, one especially thrilling for nobles whom attended; no sympathy was shown for the man nor was there remorse planted on the executioners faces. Unfortunately, young Elizabeth Bathory ecstatically enjoyed observing this scene being carried out. Further which, this incident had convinced her that commoners who were under her were merely toys that could be tortured and immolated for entertainment with exemption and without fear of retaliation. This constant exposure to absurd violence, her family’s condoning attitude towards it, and her own chronicle mental disorders were the most prominent aspects that conceivably…
- 736 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During the Elizabethan period there were many horrible means of punishment and torture . Just like in romeo and juliet where if you got caught fighting again you would be put to death.During the Elizabethan Time punishments were harsh. Even for the littlest crime. Punishments back then were treated differently as we would treat them today.…
- 457 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The poem takes place outside the supervision from the poet’s father stating “Let him dream of a child obedient, angel-mind No-Sayer, robbed of power by sleep.” This represents the writer beginning to rebel the father and desire to act as an individual, free from his authority. In the second stanza the poet goes into the old stables to search for the owl.…
- 424 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Elizabeth shares similar inclination towards justice and moral principles with her husband Proctor. She is a virtuous and faithful woman but is tormented by her husband’s affair. She struggles to forgive her husband and let go of her anger. However, Elizabeth can be a cold and demanding woman, who comes to the…
- 925 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
“Elizabeth was sad and desponding; she no longer took delight in her ordinary occupations; all pleasure seemed to her sacrilege toward the dead; eternal woe and tears she then thought was the just tribute…
- 921 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The poem One Art by Elizabeth Bishop has a conversational tone conveying an obvious particular notion--at first. The first refrain serves to declare victoriously an opening statement that, "The art of losing isn't hard to master" (Bishop Line 1). As the poem advances, repetitions of the first and second refrains reveal themselves as helpful incantations. At first, this villanelle appears as a no-nonsense tutorial equipped with literary imagery on how to get over losing things, places, opportunities and persons in life. Having theoretically mastered the list of losses seems to somehow qualify the speaker to give such recommendations. Each stanza explores how Bishop, the main character, may have arrived at her "loss is no disaster" (second refrain) approach to grief mastery. By the last stanza though, she is no longer perceived as apathetically reciting incantations perhaps for our learning, but as coping with personal losses and evolving through resulting stages of grief. By the end, we witness an ironic exposure of the speaker's true emotional self behind the mask.…
- 1474 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
1. In line 15, Frost describes the saw as being sinister. He infers that the saw has a mind of its own, by stating that the saw jumped out of the boy’s hand and cut the boy’s hand terribly. Frost also makes it seem as if the saw is in a way, like a friend. He does this by demonstrating that using the saw is an advantage for the boy because it is making his job ten times easier. Without the saw, the boy would spend hours cutting through the wood.…
- 2098 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays