The Laboratory Flashcards
Stanza1
1. What is the setting of this poem?
2. What is the relevance of “ancient regime?
3. What characters are introduced in this stanza?
4. Why is the last line so shocking?
- A dark, smoky, dangerous laboratory.
- It places this immediately in the decadence of Louis XIV’s court and suggests that the poem may be an exploration of power.
3.An apothecary and a purchaser of poison/ a murderous woman.
4.The tone is cheerfully inquisitive, which is completely at odds (incongruous) with her request, which is deadly.
Stanza 2
1. What is the speaker’s motive for her actions?
2. What is your impression of the other couple?
3. What can you infer about the speaker from the other couple’s perception of her?
1.Revenge on a partner that
appears to have spurned her and his present lover.
2. They seem quite malicious/spiteful/mean/despicable, as they are flaunting their affair and publicly humiliating her. Possibly even sadistic as they appear to be entertained by her pain.
3. She puts on an appearance of meek (“my tears flow”, forgiving (“pray
God in, for them”) piousness (“fled to the church”), which hides her jealous
and vicious nature (“I am here”). She is a hypocrite, who pretends to
Stanza 3
- What is she doing?
- Comment on the speaker’s status.
- She is sitting and watching with interest what the
apothecary is doing. - The speaker is an aristocrat/ a memberof the privileged classes who seems to be quite popular, as “men wait [her] at the King’s”. Her life is one of privilege and leisure as all she has to do is “dance at the King’s”. It seems it bores her.
Stanza 4
- What do the questions suggest about the speaker’s nature?
- What do they suggest about the speaker’s state of mind?
1) She is both intelligent and curious, as she takes a keen interest in everything around her.
2) At this moment in time she seems quite excited to the point of being gleeful. She marveling at the beauty of these dangerous substances.
Stanza 5
- Discuss how the speaker’s mood and tone contrast with her purpose.
The speaker’s tone and mood are excited. She is energized, however, her
purpose is a very negative one as her intention is murder.
Her mood/tone and what she intends to do.
Stanza 6
1) How does this stanza further your understanding of the speaker’s nature?
- She is an extremely competitive, jealous person as she sees a number of
women as rivals of whom she would happily rid herself. - It also suggests that she is insecure about her own physical attractions as she seems to obsess over Elise’s physical attributes.
Stanza 7
- What is upsetting the speaker?
- How would you describe her tone?
1) The poison is not pretty enough for her liking.
2. It starts with impatience when she questions whether the poison is finished. Then it turns petulant when she complains about the colour.
Stanza 8
1) What contrasts between the speaker and her rival can you infer?
- The speaker seems to be petite as she refers to herself as “little” and as a minion”, which the rival is not.
- The rival therefore seems to be built on either more womanly than girlish lines or she is more athletic, which might be hinted at by the hunting image of “ensnaring”.
- Certainly the personality of the rival is bolder and more vital than the speaker’s as she seems to have “masculine eyes” and her life force (“pulse”) is “magnificent”.
Stanza 9
How does the speaker rate the power of her hatred?
- She rates it highly, because she felt it had enough force to kill.
Stanza 10 How does she intend to punish her husband/ ex-lover?
She will punish him by having the rival suffer horrifically in h. which will cause him pain and possibly leave him feeling accountable for her death.
Stanza 11
- Does the apothecary enjoy what he is doing? Justify your answer.
- What is your response to the speaker’s attitude?
1) No, she admonishes him not to be “morose” (sad), so it seems he is not
happy serving her or in his line of work.
2. I am slightly repulsed by her attitude. She is very self-centred as she feels that his emotions should echo her own or that they are dependent on hers.
Stanza 12
- Where does the speaker intend to go?
- What is your reaction to her offer of a kiss?
1) Back to her privileged life at the court.
2. Shock/ revulsion: it hints at offering sexual favours in return for an instrument of murder.
How many examples of moral corruption can you find in this poem?
About 9: adultery, cruelty, spiritual emptiness, hypocrisy, murder, jealousy, accepting great mercenary rewards for aiding in murder, the offer of sexual favours for payment of a service.
Refer to stanzas 2, 3, 6, 8 and 12.
In this society, women seem to be limited to roles that deny them any real power. Describe these roles.
Can you sympathise with the speaker?
- Women like the speaker appear to be expected to conform to the role of dutiful wife/ patiently suffering ex-lover, who will turn the other cheek when she is spurned by her husband/ lover.
-They are expected to be content with being objects of men’s desire and to be entertained by flirting and dancing, nothing more intellectually demanding (Stanza 3).
- They seem to be in competition with each other based on physical probably sexual attraction (Stanza 6). - Women should be demure, not bold: girlishly dependent rather than bold and capable of going after what they want (i.e. “ensnaring” a man). How does the rival seem to resist this? She seems to have “ensnared” the object of the speaker’s desire. “Her pulse’s magnificent come-and-go” suggests a vitality which is almost elemental like the sea rather than weak and reticent feminine stereotype that can be
inferred from the poem. - She is not treated well and clearly has the intelligence to do better things. However, she is in a position to make choices, which many would not have had the privilege to do (consider the apothecary’s situation). She also seems to be insane – killing a rival is
Explain how the poet has used contrast, and rhythm and rhyme to convey an impression of insanity
- The skipping rhythm of the anapestic* tetrameter is a light, fun one which when contrasted with the macabre subject matter of the poem is incongruous.
- The tight rhyme of the heroic couplets suggests on one hand order and on the other childishness (like nursery rhymes).
- These contrasts of the relentless movement of the poem with its cheerful energy while talking of gruesome content help to convey the impression that something is seriously out of order.
