‘The Death of Marilyn
Monroe’
Edwin Morgan
Marilyn Monroe - Biography
Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) was an American
actress, singer, and model.
She was originally called Norma Jean Baker and, after
spending much of her childhood in foster homes, she
began a career as a model, which led to a film
contract in 1946.
Her early roles were minor, but her performances in
The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950)
were well received.
She was praised for her comedic ability in such films as
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire,
and The Seven Year Itch, and became one of Hollywood's
most popular and glamorous performers.
The typecasting of Monroe's "dumb blonde" persona
limited her career prospects, so she broadened her
range.
She studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and
formed Marilyn Monroe Productions. Her dramatic
performance in William Inge's Bus Stop was hailed by
critics, and she won a Golden Globe Award for her
performance in Some Like it Hot.
Monroe was married three times:
•
James Dougherty (1942-46)
•
Joe DiMaggio - baseball player (1954 - she filed for
divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty 274
days after the wedding)
•
Arthur Miller - playwright (1956-61)
She was also rumoured to have had affairs with, among
others, President John F Kennedy and his brother, Bobby.
The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness,
personal problems, and a reputation for being
unreliable and difficult to work with.
On August 5, 1962, LAPD police sergeant Jack
Clemmons received a call at 4:25 AM from Dr. Ralph
Greenson, Marilyn’s psychiatrist, proclaiming that
Monroe was dead at her home in Brentwood, Los
Angeles, California. Sergeant Clemmons was the first
police officer to arrive at the death scene. Many
questions remain unanswered about the circumstances
of her death and the timeline after Monroe's body was
found.
The official cause of Monroe's death was classified by Dr.
Thomas Noguchi of the Los Angeles County Coroners
office as “acute barbiturate poisoning”, which he
recorded as an accidental overdose. Eight milligram
percent of chloral hydrate and 4.5 milligram percent of
Nembutal were found in her system after the autopsy.
Her death was rumoured to be a “probable suicide”, but
because of a lack of evidence, investigators could not
classify her death as suicide or homicide. Also, some
conspiracy theories involve John and Robert Kennedy
with her death, while other theories suggest CIA or mafia
complicity.
On August 8, 1962, Monroe was interred in a crypt at
Corridor of Memories, #24, at the Westwood Village
Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Lee
Strasberg delivered the eulogy.
In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest
female star of all time by the American Film Institute.
Source: Wikipedia
YouTube clips
Marilyn in action:
'I Wanna Be Loved By You‘
Some Like it Hot
The Seven Year Itch
Happy Birthday Mr President
You can find out more about Marilyn’s life by watching this
documentary
You can find out more about theories surrounding Marilyn’s death
by watching Conspiracy Theories - The Death of Marilyn Monroe
Edwin Morgan’s poem ‘The Death of Marilyn
Monroe’ examines the circumstances
surrounding the death of the American screen
goddess.
Her death in 1962, from a drugs overdose,
shocked the world, coming at a time when she
appeared to have everything – beauty, wealth,
and success.
Monroe represented the American Dream: the smalltown girl–next-door turned Hollywood sex icon. Her
name was linked to the rich and famous: she was
married to Joe Di Maggio, the famous American baseball
player, and the playwright Arthur Miller; she was
rumoured to have had affairs with many men, including
President John F. Kennedy and his brother Senator
Bobby Kennedy.
Her death was shrouded in mystery; the world’s press, in
time-honoured fashion, clamoured to apportion blame
and even today there is much conjecture about who or
what pushed her to her death.
The poem reminds the reader of the price paid by
individuals for living life to the full in the public eye.
The poem reminds the reader of the
price paid by the private person for
living life to the full in the public eye.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
The poem opens dramatically...
with the clamour of questions echoing
the public’s (and the media’s) reaction
to the news of Marilyn Monroe’s death.
This highlights to the reader
that the poem will be exploring
the themes of responsibility
and innocence.
and the shocking and
confusing nature of her
death.
This series of short questions
conveys the sense of loss felt by
Morgan, and the public...
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
The poem opens dramatically...
with the clamour of questions echoing
the public’s (and the media’s) reaction
to the news of Marilyn Monroe’s death.
This highlights to the reader
that the poem will be exploring
the themes of responsibility
and innocence.
as she had no
privacy and
was constantly
hounded by
them.
Morgan feels this media
obsession was at least
partly responsible for
Monroe’s death...
By mimicking newspaper
headlines, Morgan alludes
to the media’s obsession
with Monroe, in life and in
death.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
Series of rhetorical questions.
Mirrors the
snap-shot click
of cameras?
Accusative
tone
Rhetoric (using language
effectively and persuasively) is used
to make the reader re-evaluate
his/her opinion of the media.
Metaphor – creates an image of
her innocence while painting a
picture of a person broken down
by the demands of the life she led.
This image of
abandonment
evokes the
reader’s pity...
and anger.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
The public?
Media? Film
industry?
Who abandoned
her?
It has been connected to
many overdoses and has
been used in assisted suicide.
She died
in her
bed.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
and produces a
wide range of
effects, from mild
sedation to
anaesthesia.
Nembutal is a
barbiturate that
acts as a central
nervous system
depressant…
The Coroner’s report of Marilyn
Monroe’s death concluded her
death was due to a massive
overdose of 47 nembutal
capsules.
Contrast – lines 2 and 3 slow the pace
and introduce a sense of compassion
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
Usually
associated
with the death
of a child...
this continues
the idea of
child-like
innocence.
Morgan points the finger of blame
at areas of Monroe’s life which he
feels contributed to her destruction.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
Pace accelerates again
in line 4 – series of angry
outbursts, punctuated by
exclamation marks.
Exclamation
marks suggest the
shouting of a
news vendor.
Monroe’s 2nd and 3rd
husbands - Joe Di
Maggio (1954) and
Arthur Miller (1956-61).
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?
Crumpled orphan, nembutal bed,
white hearse, Los Angeles,
Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!
American
public.
Film
industry.
Repetition – emphasises the
key part Los Angeles (i.e. the
American film industry) had in
her death.
Personification
– Death as kind
figure.
Ironic paradox – suggests
that life is so intolerable
that death is seen as a
welcome release.
Death was the only
friend Monroe
could turn to in her
despair.
That Death should seem the only protector That all arms should have faded, and the great cameras and lights
become an inquisition and a torment That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, the
inflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should become
a blur of incomprehension and pain -
Melancholic
tone.
The film industry, and the
fame that went with it,
became instruments of
torture to Monroe.
Shows the pompous
self-indulgence of the
selfish and uncaring film
industry.
Builds up a
picture of
loneliness.
The people who surrounded her
were there because of her name
and fame, not because they were
her friends.
‘autograph hunters’
- idea of relentless
pursuit.
That Death should seem the only protector That all arms should have faded, and the great cameras and lights
become an inquisition and a torment That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, the
inflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should become
a blur of incomprehension and pain The sense of emotional
isolation is conveyed
most effectively here...
‘drive-in admirers’ are literally separated
from the real person by two screens, the
movie screen and the car windscreen.
That Death should seem the only protector That all arms should have faded, and the great cameras and lights
become an inquisition and a torment That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, the
inflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should become
a blur of incomprehension and pain Caesuras in lines 5, 7 and 10
– creates an audible pause
that breaks up lines of verse.
These dramatic pauses invite
the reader to consider the extent
to which the media and public
controlled Monroe’s life.
Personification - uncertainty
is portrayed as a sleazy
voyeur, preying on her pain
and naivety while luring her
to her death…
which intensifies the sense of
Monroe’s insecurity and confusion…
and introduces the idea that she
was no longer in control of her life.
That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, with
bewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and lie
down and in her anguish
call for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could only
dissolve her! A method
of dying, we are shaken, we see it. Strasberg!
“Uncertainty”
may represent
the public...
who treated her as their
possession to “watch” any
time they wanted.
This voyeuristic
control destroyed her
and led to her death.
That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, with
bewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and lie
down and in her anguish
call for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could only
dissolve her! A method
of dying, we are shaken, we see it. Strasberg!
The hard
alliterative
sound of the
‘b’...
and the placing of
“bewildering barbiturates”
at the beginning of the
line...
emphasises her
bewilderment and
Morgan’s pity for her.
The use of the
pronoun ‘we’
shows solidarity
between the
reader and the
poet...
and provides
a contrast to
Monroe’s
loneliness.
It also shows that the poet and
reader, as members of the
public, are not entirely
blameless for her death, as we
eagerly consume celebrity
gossip.
That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, with
bewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and lie
down and in her anguish
call for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could only
dissolve her! A method
of dying, we are shaken, we see it. Strasberg!
Her death has a
theatrical quality to it.
This refers to Lee Strasberg’s
particularly stylised ‘method’ acting
studied by Monroe.
Repetition - further
reinforces the film
industry’s role in her
death.
Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others die
and yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,
America.
Olivier also directed the film and there
was a great deal of conflict on the set
between Monroe and him.
Laurence Olivier, who starred with Marilyn in
‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ (1957).
He became frustrated
with his co-star, often
raising his voice in
anger and occasionally
insulting her.
Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others die
and yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,
America.
She relied on prescription
drugs to alleviate her
fears and insecurities
while making the film.
Marilyn responded by
arriving on the set hours
late and sometimes failing
to show up at all.
The poet himself enters
the poem again...
and reminds us that, in a world
almost desensitised by death,
this one is different, it touches
us.
Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others die
and yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,
America.
Morgan goes on to
comment more
directly on her death.
Begins by emphasising the
importance of communication
in people’s lives.
Secret
language.
Let no one say communication is a cantword.
They had to lift her hand from the bedside telephone.
But what she had not been able to say
perhaps she had said. 'All I had was my life.
Let no one say communication is a cantword.
They had to lift her hand from the bedside telephone.
But what she had not been able to say
perhaps she had said. 'All I had was my life.
She died trying to reach out to someone.
Emphasises her
loneliness and isolation.
Morgan quotes
Monroe’s words.
I have no regrets, because if I made
any mistakes, I was responsible.
There is now - and there is the future.
What has happened is behind. So
it follows you around? So what?' - This
to a friend, ten days before.
Morgan reports Monroe’s
words ‘to a friend, ten
days before’ her death.
This gives us an insight
into her attitude towards
life.
For Monroe, all that
mattered was the present
and the future...
and she was a person
who lived life to the full
and regretted nothing.
Strong sense of irony
Prepares reader for his hard
hitting concluding lines
And so she was responsible.
And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, Los
Angeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will the
slow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?
focusing on
responsibility
and innocence.
with a series
of questions...
Poem ends as
it began...
This is repeated for
the third time…
emphasising the extent to which
Morgan blames the pressures of
celebrity for Marilyn’s death.
And so she was responsible.
And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, Los
Angeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will the
slow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?
Repeats Monroe’s words
in a rhetorical question.
The reader is forced to see that
while Marilyn was willing to accept
responsibility for her life…
but Los Angeles, and
American society in
general, is unwilling to
accept any responsibility
for the part it played in
her death.
Repeats
image of
white hearse.
Reinforces the idea of
Monroe’s innocence and
vulnerability.
And so she was responsible.
And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, Los
Angeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will the
slow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?
This metaphor further
strengthens this idea of
innocence and
encapsulates the
poem’s themes.
The finger of
blame is pointed
firmly at American
society.
Monroe was a ‘child
of America’ - born
there, produced by
the American film
industry, and she
possessed a childlike innocence.
The reader is left feeling
‘Mother America’ has
abdicated all responsibility for
her child.
This metaphor also contains an
implied sense of parental
responsibility on the part of American
society.
And so she was responsible.
And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, Los
Angeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will the
slow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?
This metaphor further
strengthens this idea of
innocence and
encapsulates the
poem’s themes.
The finger of
blame is pointed
firmly at American
society.
Monroe was a ‘child
of America’ - born
there, produced by
the American film
industry, and she
possessed a childlike innocence.
‘Death of Marilyn Monroe’ - Essay questions
Your answer should address relevantly the central concern(s) /
theme(s) of the poem and be supported by reference to
appropriate poetic techniques such as: imagery, verse form,
structure, mood, tone, sound, rhythm, rhyme, characterisation,
contrast, setting, symbolism, word choice…
1 Choose a poem which explores loneliness or isolation.
Show how the poet explores the theme, and discuss to what
extent your appreciation of the theme was deepened by the
poet’s treatment.
2 Choose a poem which makes you feel a sense of sympathy
or compassion.
Show how the poet evokes this emotion and discuss how
important it is to the overall impact of the poem.
3 Choose a poem which highlights an unpleasant aspect of
life.
Show how the poet has achieved this effect and discuss how
effectively you think the poet has dealt with this aspect.