The Laboratory
by
Robert Browning
Commentary on the poem
The Laboratory
• The poem is set in France during the 18th century – the Ancien
Regime – the time before the French Revolution.
• It is a time of privilege for the aristocracy
• The French Court* was known to be very flirtatious – much
more so than the English Court. Love affairs were common.
Where the people associated with
the King meet
• In a laboratory (apothecary’s shop) away from Court, a Lady is
plotting to murder her rival with poison.
The Laboratory - Form
• The poem is a dramatic monologue (Browning’s preferred
form)
• In the poem the Lady is speaking to the apothecary – the “old
man”
• We only hear the voice of the Lady in the poem, never the
apothecary
• We know she is with him in the ‘laboratory’ as he prepares it
• Through her voice we build up a picture of what is happening
i.e. she has asked him to make a poison so that she may kill
her rival
The Laboratory - commentary
“Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
May gaze thro' these faint smokes curling whitely,”
She is looking intently
She wears a mask to
protect her from the fumes
Makes the process seem
mysterious and beautiful
Through description Browning has established that the
lady is taking more than just a casual interest in the process.
This is an early indication of how strong her desire for
vengeance is.
The Laboratory - commentary
“As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy-Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?”
Informal 2nd person –
Establishes relationship;
She is the social superior
Repetition of poison makes
it more sinister.
The laboratory - where the
apothecary carries out his
work. Consider connotations
of ‘devil’ and ‘smithy’
As a creator of poisons
Establishes victim’s gender
The question is direct, she has nothing to hide – it is
a polite request about a sinister action.
Through careful use of pronouns, repetition and
word choice, much of the poem’s narrative
has been established in the first stanza.
The lady likes to watch the poison being made; this implies she is enjoying
this stage of her revenge.
Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
Pound at thy powder, -- I am not in haste!
Better sit thus, and observe thy strange things,
Than go where men wait me and dance at the King's
List of four verbs describes the violence
and physical effort needed to make the poison.
These lines imply
that she does not
want the attention
of the men at court.
This seems rather
odd given that
she is seeking
a poison to kill a
rival in love.
The speaker finds more pleasure in watching the apothecary at
his work than she does being flirted with at the King’s. List of verbs
Gives a commanding and eager tone to the description of the
poison’s creation – implies her desire for revenge is very strong.
She’s fascinated by the process, asking questions and pointing at things.
She points at things
Her questions imply
curiosity
That in the mortar -- you call it a gum?
Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
Sure to taste sweetly, -- is that poison too?
The ingredients to the poison are
described using words we associate
with goodness and beauty
– thus linking beauty and death.
Browning describes the scene through the
eyes of the lady and what attracts her attention. This
is how he creates her character.
It’s not just revenge, the lady is taking pleasure from the idea of carrying it
out
The poisons are described as
“treasures”, consider the connotations.
Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
She seems to take pleasure In the idea of
having power over people. This suggests
that, despite her position in society,
She feels very weak.
To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree-basket!
The lady looks forward to giving the poison
Word choice and position
imply she’s looking forward
to the moment.
Her rival
in love
Notice the exclamation
mark - She is gleeful at
the idea of her rival’s
death
tablet
Soon, at the King's, a mere lozenge to give
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!
Roll of paste it kills through
the fumes
She lingers on different parts of the victim's
body: notice how she repeats the
pronoun “her” each time.
Another
rival
in love
The lady grows impatient…
“Quick -- is it finished?”
“Let it brighten her drink”
And critical
“the colour’s too grim”
“let her turn it and stir”
“try it and taste”
“ere she fix and prefer”
By giving these details, Browning gives us some
insight into the Lady’s psychological state. She
Describes what she wants to see Pauline do –
adding a voyeuristic quality to the poem. She
seems to want to watch Pauline admire and enjoy
the drink before it kills her. This adds a further layer of
Malevolence to the Lady.
We learn more of the back story
She sees herself as small and insignificant
“She's not little, no minion like me-That's why she ensnared him:”
“Ensnare” has connotations of trapping or holding
captive. This suggests that Pauline may be more
powerful in society than the Lady. Also, physically larger.
“What a drop!”
She’s concerned that the poison
is not strong enough to kill.
We learn the lady tried to kill Pauline by staring at her – giving us further
insight into her psychological state.
“I brought
My own eyes to bear on her “
“she would fall,
Shrivelled; she fell not; yet this does it all!”
To wrinkle, to make smaller
-picks up on the “size” of Pauline,
mentioned in previous stanza
The note of triumph implies
she is desperate for revenge
She stares at her rival and fantasises that she can
kill her with a glance. This suggests that the Lady
is egotistical and deluded.
She imagines the scene of death
“Let death be felt and the proof remain:”
Wants the method of death to be painful and also clear
to anyone who sees the body.
She lingers on the details as she imagines Pauline’s death
“Brand, burn up, bite into its grace-”
She wants to see good things
destroyed – in this case,
Pauline’s attractiveness
Words linked to pain and suffering emphasized
by alliteration.
She wants the death to be long and painful. This suggests that she is not only
after revenge, but wants to see Pauline suffer greatly, further indicating her
deranged state.
sad
The poison is ready
Take my mask off!
Nay, be not morose She’s talking to the alchemist
It kills her,
He may look sad because
he is helping commit a murder
She’s only concerned
whether it’s effective
He’s had to listen to the details
beside, can it ever hurt me?
For a moment she considers
whether the poison could be
turned against her.
my whole fortune's fee
This revenge is
costing her everything:
it shows how much
she desires it.
She's ready to leave the alchemist
take
all
my
jewels
The price of the poison
is her jewellery
gorge gold to your fill
But she is
concerned about being
poisoned accidentally
brush this dust off me,
lest horror it brings
You may kiss me, old man,
on my mouth if you will!
She likes to
be in control
Power,poison, death and sex
are all linked together
Her visit to the alchemist is over and she looks
forward to returning to the court
It sounds like she’s excited
about an innocent pleasure
But we know
next moment I dance at the King's she’s excited
about the prospect
of murdering
her rival
Some gothic qualities in the poem
An evil plot
A deranged narrator
A story of a murder
A sinister setting
madness
secrets
Which other poems in the anthology
have some of these qualities?