How Does Browning Tell the Story of Parts Iii and Iv of ‘the Pied Piper of Hamlin’?
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- Category: English: Poetic Works
- Date Submitted: 02/09/2015 09:54 AM
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The Pied Piper of Hamlin is a childrens story, set in the middle ages. In this section of the poem, the townspeopel attack the corporation because of the infestation of rats and how the Mayor is just sitting there doing nothiung about it. It is also just before the arrival of the Pied Piper. The towns people are very anti-government and are unpleasant towards the Mayor. Browning seems concearned with characterisation here, as he presents the Mayor and the corporation as greedy and self-interested, who use satire to control the people around them.
The tone of voice in this section, suggests that the town has a lack of respect for those who are in power. The single voice, shows that the town have come together as one and are forming an attack on the Mayor ‘cried they’. The use of rhyme mocks the Mayor as the townspeople are finding a way to get back at the government. The corporation are actually the pests ‘ermine’ and the rats are the ‘vermin’. The comparison between the two things, suggests negative connotations because they are both associated as being horrible. The government are being overpowered by the people below them as they ‘quaked’.
Everything placed in front of the Mayor is to do with his wealth. This sentiment also contrasts with his later response to the Piper’s request for payment, ‘I’d my ermine gown sell’. The Mayor only thinks of himself and the greed drives him as it is his only source of power. The repetition of ‘trap’ places the idea in the reader’s mind that the Mayor is setting up a trap. The entrance of the Pied Piper is made more significant ‘Just as he said this, what should hap’ and the juxtaposition creates a dramatic moment. The brackets indicate a side though, the description is nasty ‘too long opened oyster’ but it’s a comic simile, this links to his grotesqueness to his wealth through the image of delicacy [line 47-50]. Sound is important in this section of the poem as it creates a sound where the reader is familiar ‘pit-a-pat’,...
The tone of voice in this section, suggests that the town has a lack of respect for those who are in power. The single voice, shows that the town have come together as one and are forming an attack on the Mayor ‘cried they’. The use of rhyme mocks the Mayor as the townspeople are finding a way to get back at the government. The corporation are actually the pests ‘ermine’ and the rats are the ‘vermin’. The comparison between the two things, suggests negative connotations because they are both associated as being horrible. The government are being overpowered by the people below them as they ‘quaked’.
Everything placed in front of the Mayor is to do with his wealth. This sentiment also contrasts with his later response to the Piper’s request for payment, ‘I’d my ermine gown sell’. The Mayor only thinks of himself and the greed drives him as it is his only source of power. The repetition of ‘trap’ places the idea in the reader’s mind that the Mayor is setting up a trap. The entrance of the Pied Piper is made more significant ‘Just as he said this, what should hap’ and the juxtaposition creates a dramatic moment. The brackets indicate a side though, the description is nasty ‘too long opened oyster’ but it’s a comic simile, this links to his grotesqueness to his wealth through the image of delicacy [line 47-50]. Sound is important in this section of the poem as it creates a sound where the reader is familiar ‘pit-a-pat’,...