ipl-logo

Tone In Letter To Napoleon III By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

468 Words2 Pages

In her letter to Napoleon III, Elizabeth Barrett Browning repeatedly expresses her femininity, uses an educated but pensive tone, and feeds into Napoleon’s ego to convince the Emperor to forgive Victor Hugo. The very first sentence of this letter sets the mood for the entire petition. Browning opens her letter by stating that “I am only a woman.” (1). These five words immediately employ the idea that Browning understands her position in society. Even though she lived a “studious and thoughtful life” (8), being a female poet in 1857 makes her opinion and her words unimportant and lesser. The reason that Browning explicitly states her gender is so that Napoleon also understands that even if stripped away from his title of Emperor, he would still …show more content…

Along with expressing her sex, Browning also uses a pensive tone that would likely have been expected of women at the time. However, it’s important to note that her quiet tone masks an educated and strong tone. In her first paragraph, Browning tells Napoleon that she is not “skilled in the way of addressing kings” (7). This makes readers almost sympathetic to Browning as she states that she has never done anything of this magnitude before. Throughout the letter, she carries an appreciative tone that worships the Emperor yet it is very easy to tell, even without knowing who Browning is, that she is educated and understands what she is talking about. She pieces her sentences together flawlessly and gives Napoleon III concrete reason to call back Victor Hugo from his exile. While giving Napoleon III phenomenal reasons to pardon Hugo, Browning also feeds into the Emperor's ego. Elizabeth begins her petition by saying that Hugo should be forgiven because “he cannot be excused”

Show More
Related
299 Words | 2 Pages

This quote explains how she is trying to be humble to persuade Napoleon to pardon Hugo from the exile. Second, Barret uses asyndeton to persuade the Emperor Napoleon II to pardon Hugo. According to the letter, “Ah sire, you are great enough! You can allow for the peculiarity of the poetical temperament,

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

When the narrator, Addie, is picked to memorize and recite a poem to the “Saturday Club”, Miss Chevalier says “‘that shouldn’t be a problem for a girl of [her] ability’”(Diamant). Then further compliments Addie by assuring her that she is “‘a girl with gumption’”(Diamant). Through these pieces of dialogue it is clear that Miss Chevalier thinks very highly of Addie and isn’t afraid to compliment her because she is a naturally kind person. These compliments help to instill confidence in those on the receiving end. Showing the reader the impact of Miss Chevaliers words, and how these continuous kind words are an example of her growing

Read More
361 Words | 2 Pages

Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses several rhetorical strategies throughout her letter to petition Napoleon III. Browning is really smart and it shows. She does her best to win Napoleon over. She does what it takes to earn his respect and get him to hear her out. I mean, when it comes down to it, you gotta do what it takes to win, right?

Read More
420 Words | 2 Pages

 Browning could be reflecting the conservative attitudes towards women at that time where women were submissive and subservient to their male counterparts and husbands.  This arrogance is further shown when the Duke exclaims that he made the curtain and that he had “drawn it for you”. The way Shelley uses the

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

Browning attempts to win over Napoleon by showing her high praise for him, but also tries to get Napoleon to sympathize for her. She utilizes pathos in her exaggeration to try to strike an emotional chord in Napoleon. “I have been reading with wet eyes and a swelling heart (as many who love and some who hate you, your Majesty, have done lately a book called ‘Contemplations’ of a man who has sinned deeply against you in certain of his political writings, and who experates rash phrases and unjustifiable statements in exile in Jersey” (Line 14). She exaggerates her “swelling heart” to show Napoleon her support towards him to try to make him understand her side of the argument, by using an

Read More
408 Words | 2 Pages

It is stated that Murray was one of the first women who argued “women’s capacity to reason.” Murray argued for the same men and women educational facilities, inaugurating change within the socialization. Murray also joined reformations with other women against the reconstruction of gender equality. Galewski’s close reading of Murray’s text reveals two types of irony used within, romantic and dialectical. The ironies coordinate within each other in the text which makes the argument more persuasive.

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

In 1836, John Smith, a local entrepreneur of the railroad business, decided to build a house upon a great amount of land in the state of Nebraska. Little to be known this land was comprised of ancient spirits from a cult long ago in this area. John was warned by the indigenous people of this area that these spirits well only unleash hell upon him if he completes this project on their land. John as obstinate as ever continue with the project and would disregard these warnings throughout the years of his house that was being built. During construction, the people working on the house heard shrieks of horror and saw hallucinations of ghosts.

Read More
365 Words | 2 Pages

During the 1850s, French writer Victor Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Misérables, and other popular works was banished by Napoleon III for writings considered critical of the government. In English poet’s Elizabeth Browning un-mailed letter to Napoleon the III, she implores him to pardon French poet Hugo. Browning employs various rhetorical strategies and devices in order to persuade the Emperor, including logos, pathos, and appeal to flattery.

Read More
459 Words | 2 Pages

This becomes evident in a lack of information about the type of society, and the reader therefore lacks a complete understanding of how the women are oppressed. As a whole, this poem sets forth the idea that female gender is fluid, and asks its readers to questions what it means to be a woman in a male dominant

Read More
354 Words | 2 Pages

Firstly, he uses feminism, he was one of early feminists in the middle of the 19th century. Through his writing, he expressed his thought that women shouldn’t have to obey men all the time. “He has no right to claim my obedience on any subject. ”(Trollope).

Read More
1315 Words | 6 Pages

In the late 1800s, nearly all women were viewed as subservient, inferior, second class females that lived their lives in a patriarchal and chauvinist society. Women often had no voice, identity, or independence during that time period. Moreover, women dealt with the horrors of social norms and the gender opposition of societal norms. The primary focus and obligation for a woman to obtain during the 1800s was to serve her husband and to obey to anything he said. Since women were not getting the equality, freedom, or independence that they desired, Kate Chopin, an independent-minded female American novelist of the late 1800s expressed the horrors, oppressions, sadness, and oppositions that women of that time period went through.

Read More
1061 Words | 5 Pages

Kate Chopin is best known for her ability to express her feelings of the time and is well known feminist of her time. She has wrote many inspiring novels about women having little to no voice in the Antebellum era. Kate hated being a mother and a wife because she felt like she had no power . Thus, she wrote one of her greatest novels Desiree’s Baby. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree's Baby she introduces a theme of male supremacy by her execution of literary devices such as symbolism and irony to prove that it is more important to be male than white in the Antebellum era.

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

In comparison to the rigid patriarchal society portrayed in “My Last Duchess”, Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci” illustrates how the freedom of individual expression in the romantic period affects people’s perspective on love. While the narrative persona in “My Last Duchess” demands his wife to devote her love to him, the protagonist of “La Belle Dame sans Merci” devotes to the woman he loves even though the love is unrequited. This is evident through the repetition of the line “On the cold hill side.” throughout the poem. The noun phrase “cold hill” suggests that the knight is lonely and depressed when he waits for the woman solely, however unlike the narrative persona of “My Last Duchess”, he would not demand the woman to love him instead he would wait patiently until the day his affection towards her is accepted.

Read More
1221 Words | 5 Pages

By using casual diction, simple sentences, and well-known allusions, Woolf is able to shift the audience’s attention from the gender of the

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

Society’s superficial viewing of women is also reflected in the poem’s wring, as it may seem that this poem is strictly concerned with a prostitute, but in fact it describes all females. The male representative in the poem, Georges, then asserts his superiority, despite their similar conditions of being poor. Although he is sexually attracted to her as he “stiffens for [her] warmth”, suggesting an erection, he is unwilling to accept her as a human being as he deems her question “Why do you do this?”

Read More

More about Tone In Letter To Napoleon III By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Open Document