What are the narrative techniques used by Tennyson in "Mariana"
Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, Mariana, follows the story of a jilted woman from Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.” The epigraph of the poem “Mariana in the moted grange” is taken from a reference of this play, and the narrative techniques within the poem combined with the context of the isolation of the character give us an insight into the melancholy that not only the character of Mariana feels, but perhaps also Tennyson himself.
Arguably the most prominent narrative technique used by Tennyson is the imagery within the powm which is an outward manifestation of Mariana’s inward melancholy. The monotonous “glooming flats” outside of her house reflect her life; she is going nowhere now that she has been jilted and apparently has no wish to! In addition to this, images of isolation prevail throughout the poem, “The lonely moated grange”. This further adds to the belief that Mariana is cut off from the vibrancy of human life. Tennyson is particularly clever with this narrative technique; giving the description of an inanimate object, such as the “moated grange” using an human emotion, it allows the reader to reflect this feeling onto the character of Mariana, which further gives insight to the solitude that her character is feeling. The imagery throughout is of vital importance, due to the fact that we learn nothing of the physical appearance of her, yet the bleak desolation of the landscape which she lives in allows the reader to project this image onto her character and gives an insight towards the inner turmoil and isolation that the character is feeling. In addition, the image of decay is one of the most obvious forms of imagery throughout, and further reflects the fact that Mariana’s life is wasting away waiting for a man. . The quotation: “With blackest moss the flower plots, Were thickly crusted one and all.” suggests the idea that the melancholy Mariana has been feeling has not been a short term thing. The fact that the usually green moss has turned
Arguably the most prominent narrative technique used by Tennyson is the imagery within the powm which is an outward manifestation of Mariana’s inward melancholy. The monotonous “glooming flats” outside of her house reflect her life; she is going nowhere now that she has been jilted and apparently has no wish to! In addition to this, images of isolation prevail throughout the poem, “The lonely moated grange”. This further adds to the belief that Mariana is cut off from the vibrancy of human life. Tennyson is particularly clever with this narrative technique; giving the description of an inanimate object, such as the “moated grange” using an human emotion, it allows the reader to reflect this feeling onto the character of Mariana, which further gives insight to the solitude that her character is feeling. The imagery throughout is of vital importance, due to the fact that we learn nothing of the physical appearance of her, yet the bleak desolation of the landscape which she lives in allows the reader to project this image onto her character and gives an insight towards the inner turmoil and isolation that the character is feeling. In addition, the image of decay is one of the most obvious forms of imagery throughout, and further reflects the fact that Mariana’s life is wasting away waiting for a man. . The quotation: “With blackest moss the flower plots, Were thickly crusted one and all.” suggests the idea that the melancholy Mariana has been feeling has not been a short term thing. The fact that the usually green moss has turned