What are the narrative techniques used by Tennyson in “Mariana”

Alfred Lord Tennysons song, Mariana, follows the story of a jilted woman from Shakespeares Measure for Measure. The epigraph of the measure form Mariana in the moted grange is taken from a propagation of this play, and the narrative proficiencys within the poem combined with the context of the isolation of the character give us an incursion into the melancholy that not unaccompanied the character of Mariana feels, exclusively by chance also Tennyson himself. Arguably the most prominent narrative technique used by Tennyson is the mental imagery within the powm which is an outward manifestation of Marianas in melancholy.The monotonous glooming flats outside of her house reflect her life she is going nowhere now that she has been jilted and apparently has no wish to In addition to this, images of isolation prevail throughout the poem, The lonely moated grange. This further adds to the belief that Mariana is cut off from the vibrancy of human life. Tennyson is particularly cle ver with this narrative technique giving the description of an inanimate object, such as the moated grange using an human emotion, it allows the reader to reflect this feeling onto the character of Mariana, which further gives insight to the solitude that her character is feeling.The imagery throughout is of vital importance, due to the fact that we learn nothing of the physical appearance of her, yet the bleak desolation of the landscape which she lives in allows the reader to project this image onto her character and gives an insight towards the inner turmoil and isolation that the character is feeling. In addition, the image of decay is one of the most provable bes of imagery throughout, and further reflects the fact that Marianas life is wasting away waiting for a man. . The quotationWith blackest moss the flower plots, Were thickly crusted one and all.suggests the mind that the melancholy Mariana has been feeling has not been a short term thing. The fact that the usually gre en moss has turned black raises the question that Mariana may be wallowing, and perhaps even enjoying her melancholy, due to the fact that it highlights the amount of time she has been in such a state. This quotation further shows the contrast between what her life could accept been, and how she is supporting now. The mention of flower-plots indicates that her life could have been flourishing and filled with colour, if she allowed it to be so, yet it is simply dark andbleak. This imagery of colour is entwined throughout the verses, with consistent references to blackend waters and the rounding gray.A startling piece of imagery which contrasts this darkness is the poplar tree with silver greengnarled bark This is a controlling image throughout the poem, and has been interpreted to be a phallic image of the man who abandoned Mariana, and is continuing to haunt her life even after he has left. This interestingly reflects the attitudes of the time. Throughout Tennysons poetry there a re examples of feminism, and critique of the attitudes towards woman at the time. This reflects the Victorian idea that a woman can only be complete with a man in her life, and the life of a woman without a husband is dreary.The sheer melancholy within the poem could perhaps be a further jibe from Tennyson about club at this time, indicating that he believes that the idea that women should live like Mariana if they dont have a husband is utter nonsense. A further technique used by Tennyson to tell the story within Mariana is the use of the structure. The verse structure abab cddc efef is to the highest degree encircling, with the central quatrain having a rhyming couplet in the middle, such asAnd paradoxical winds bound within their cell, The shadow of the poplar fellThis emphasises the psychological constraints of Marianas depression and depicts further the stasis of her life. The couplet in the middle is trapped, unable to escape due to the constraining verses, which clearly re flects the attitude that Mariana has to life. In addition to this, the verse form is unique to Tenyson and does not follow the traditional verse forms of new(prenominal) poetry, further adding to the idea that Mariana feels alone in life, and that there is nobody that is able to sympathise with her situation. Tennyson uses other language techniques such as onomatopoeia develop the story of Mariana, and is further used to reflect her character. The most brilliant example of this isThe doors upon their hinges skreakd The blue rainfly sung in the pane the mouse Behind the mouldering wainscot shriekdThe density of the onomatopoeia within this section suggests nightmarish and crazy sounds, and screams of despair, and create, as Ebbatson phrased a landscape of inertia and loss, which correlates with the emotions of the character. Furthermore, this quotation offers a stark contrast to the rest of the poem. Tennyson uses powerful words such as shriekd and creakd which are a harsh differe nce to the rest of the poem, which is mainly compiled of inactive verbs such as fell. The abundance of inactive verbs throughout the poem further reflects Marianas idleness, and really emphasises the onomatopoeia within this verse to reflect the dramatic sounds made from outside. Pathetic fallacy is a further narrative techniqueAnd wild winds bound within their cell,This is another example of the way Tennyson uses the surroundings to reflect character Marianas consciousness is really a wild wind, but she chooses to relieve it imprisoned and trapped within their cell, adding to the perception that she is actually enjoying her melancholy. The alliteration of wild winds consequently accentuates the mayhem of her consciousness, and gives the reader further insight into the character. A net technique used by Tennyson is repetition, which is present throughout the poe,. Perhaps the most obvious form of repetition is the refrain, which is repeated at the end of each verseShe only said, M y life is dreary He poseth not she said She said, I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were deadThe fact that this is at the end of it gives an insight into the monotony of Marianas life, yet it also has an effect of creating annoyance towards the character of Mariana. Evidently as this is the only thing that she can say, it may appear that she is wallowing in her sadness, and further adds to the impression that Tennyson gives off throughout the poem about the feminist aspect. The use of direct speech within this refrain is the only part in the poem where we get a direct view of Mariana. It is therefore more immediate than the rest of the devices used to describe her character in the poem, and could perhaps rebuke sympathy. However, it is not only the refrain which is repeated.The repetition of feminine rhymes such as dreary/aweary reflectthe feminine record of the character, and the drawn out nature of these words and the unstressed syllable at the end reflect the languorous natu re of the poem and create an effect of infinite weariness. Furthermore, the dramatic change of the final 2 lines of the refrain in the last stanza offers perhaps the only change to the stasis of the poem, which is a further narrative technique, and the final line Oh God that I were dead shows that Mariana has come to the decision that she is fed up of living a lfe of shadows and nothingness.In summary, Tennyson uses an abundance of narrative techniques to tell the story of Mariana. Whilst it is essentially a poem of stasis, the methods such as imagery and repetition cleverly give the reader a deeper insight into the character featured in the poem, and have an interesting message about Victorian society concealed within them.