How does human cruelty darken Browning’s poetry? Essay

On the one hand, some people agree that the recurring depicted object of human acts of cruelty, such as murder and deceit, throughout his poetry instils a sense of darkness. An example that supports this is the joy and delight that the female narrator feels in The science lab- invisible pleasures, which gives an impression of uncontainable excitement as she helps concoct her deadly poison for which she has high admiration, as it finally allows her to get her revenge, emphasising a sinister tone in the poem as the woman revels in the pain she is about to cause, holding no remorse. This can be compared to the similar way in which the persona of the duke in My Last Duchess also shows no remorse or guilt for the presumed murder of his duchess, darkening the air of the poem as, combined with the warning implications of further intentions to keep his abutting duchess exactly where he believed she was supposed to be at heart society, he seemingly has no fear of being caught and if so, p unished, present the danger in the immense gist of power he holds.On the other hand, I partly disagree with this statement as Browning also incorporates social realism and satirical waggery into his work, to portray the hypocritical yet casual nature of cruelty within society, such as in The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The brutality of humans within this poem is represented by the contrast between the theoretical behaviour of a jester-like figure and a well-dressed mayor, and the actual way in which they behave showing that a person cannot be judged by appearances, in a comedic manner.This is similar to The Patriot as Browning used a consistent rhyming final cause to represent the way in which society has and never will change over time, and people will always look for someone to blame breedings problems on. Another reason for my opposition to this statement, based on Brownings Pied Piper of Hamelin is that the cruelty portrayed within the poem is not necessarily a result of human b ehaviour, but rather an otherworldly being no guessing his kith or kin, which suggests that nobody could distinguish where he had come from as he was so different to everybody else.On the contrary to this, many would agree with the statement that human acts of cruelty darken Brownings poetry because the pied piper abducts the innocent children of Hamelin for a crime they themselves had not committed, emphasising how truly evil his actions were. By taking the children, the piper literally took the fresh, new manner out of the town, which has connotations of light and happiness, therefore meaning the piper managed to take the light out of the town and poem. Furthermore, darkness descends upon Brownings work as a result of the introduction of human cruelty, especially in The Patriot in the way that society so easily turned against their leader after he had failed to give them what they wanted, despite his best intentions in trying to give them everything that was best for them, and pu nished him by seeing him die up close from the best executable view in a humiliating and demeaning public execution.On other hand, some disagreeLaboratory- sympathy felt for the poisoner, so some plea felt/admiration of her strength as only female narrative MLD- charismatic duke/ justification of his actions.