The+Laboratory



**About the poem **
This piece, like [|My Last Duchess], comes from the 1842 collection, Dramatic Lyrics. It has a similar subject - a person who kills (or is about to kill) her rival, in the presence of her lover - who appears to be connected to the speaker in some way - perhaps her husband or an ex-lover who has spurned her for the rival who is soon to die. It is in the form of a monologue, and once more the silent listener is important, too. He is an expert in poisons (like the apothecary in Romeo and Juliet) who sells his services to a wealthy woman. The subtitle (ANCIEN RÉGIME) refers to an older form of rule or government - suggesting that the speaker comes from a past age. We do not know for certain that the speaker is female - but this is suggested by the things, listed in the fifth stanza, in which she will carry her poison ("...an earring, a casket/A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket..."), and by her offering a kiss to the poisoner, when he has finished his work. The poem recalls the saying that "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned". Browning explores the jealousy and vengefulness of someone disappointed in love.

**The poem in detail **
The poem opens with the speaker's putting on a mask, so she can see, with safety, the old man at work. She is curious, wondering which is "the poison" - either which is the best one for the job, or which is the one the old man has chosen. She speaks of "her" - we assume that this is a rival, but it is not yet clear. The second stanza suggests this more strongly, as we learn that "he" (an unspecified man) "is with her" and that "theyknow that I [the speaker] know", where they are and what they are doing. They think she is miserable because of their scorn and has gone to pray in a church - whereas she is angry and vengeful. The jealous speaker finds more pleasure, she says, in watching the old poisoner at work, than in being at the royal court where men wait on her. And she expresses her curiosity by asking about the poisonous substances - like the gum in the "mortar" (the pot in which the poisoner will grind things to powder, using a pestle). She asks about the small glass container (phial) and notes the beautiful colour of the deadly liquid in it. The speaker has begun with a specific purpose - of poisoning one person - but now she indulges in a fantasy of carrying many different poisons, and giving them out liberally - perhaps at the court, where she imagines killing two women (named as Pauline and Elise). We assume that neither of these is her real intended victim, since this woman is never named elsewhere but always identified by the pronouns "she" and "her". (Maybe the man whose attentions now fall on the rival has also favoured Pauline and Elise at some time.)

When the poison is ready, the speaker seems disappointed The speaker reveals that she has tried to face up to her rival conventionally, but without effect. And now she thinks, too, that she wants her victim to suffer and the lover to "remember her dying face". She wants also to remove the mask, once there is no danger to her, so that she can see closely the "delicate droplet" the poisoner has prepared. The poem ends with an invitation to the old poisoner to kiss the jealous client - though with a sudden afterthought, that first she should brush off the dust that has settled on her, in case this inadvertently kills her.
 * first, that it is not as bright as the blue liquid in the phial, and
 * second, that the dose is too little for such a powerful character, who ensnares men and has a "magnificent" control over the sex.

As with [|My Last Duchess], we form a vivid sense of the speaker, but it is not always clear and we have less clear ideas about anyone else here. We see something of the old man at work, and sense his greed for gain, as he helps himself to the client's jewels and gold. We also the speaker's view of "her" - the rival, a scornful and manipulative woman, who seems not to care for, or worry about, whatever the rejected "minion" might do to retaliate. And there are even fewer details about "him" - the man who prefers the rival. But we do not trust that these people are exactly as the speaker presents them. She shows something of herself - she appears to be wealthy and mixes in the highest society. But she is very different from the Duke of Ferrara, who merely speaks a word, and silences his wife forever. This character is personally weak - unable to use her position or forceful speech to change her situation. She does not use open enmity - yet resorts to stealth. She cannot keep a man's love, but almost flirts with the old man who mixes the poison - she offers him a kiss, as if she were voluptuous and desirable, but we know that she cannot compete with her rival. When she calls herself "little" and a "minion", she perhaps tries to show what others think of her.

**The poet's method **
The poem is written in twelve stanzas, all of four lines, rhymed AABB. The metre isanapaestic (two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed one) - and this creates a rather jaunty effect, which seems unsuited to the poem's subject, if we take it too seriously. But Browning intends the poem to be perhaps almost comic, over the top and melodramatic - it has some of the qualities of a popular horror film, where the characters and situations are grotesque and outrageous. This rollicking, lively effect is reinforced by the frequent alliteration - "moisten andmash...pound at thy powder". <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">Browning repeatedly points up the contrast between the luxury and opulence of the court and the grimness of the laboratory. At the same time, the speaker makes a comparison between conventional jewels that adorn the person, and the idea of special jewellery to hold deadly poisons - "an earring, a casket...a filigree basket". Perhaps Browning expects the reader to make the connection between the evil of the poison in the jewels and the idea that ordinary wealth (gold) is the root of all evils.

<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">He revels in an exotic vocabulary (a special lexicon) both of the poison laboratory and of precious jewels - "mortar", "gum", "gold oozings", "phial", "lozenge" and "pastile". <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">There is also some incongruity between the formal politeness of the speaker, saying "prithee", and the grim nature of her request. <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">The poem will appeal to contemporary readers with its gothic qualities - we find these, before Browning, in prose fiction like the English gothic novel and the American gothic of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, which depict sick or unbalanced characters, often without passing a judgement. Nowadays we are used to novels and films that show us these abnormal mental states. The speaker in the poem would be more disturbing if we took her more seriously. And Browning also contrives the situation so that we care little for her intended victim - the revenge may be excessive, but "she" seems to invite some such violent punishment.

<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">What happens next?
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">We know more or less what the speaker is planning. But we may not be too convinced that she will succeed in getting her revenge. And even if she does, will she escape detection or punishment? Will she be content to see "her" die in pain? Write an account of the sequel, using any form you think best suited for this. You could do it for example, as
 * <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">the script for a film, TV, radio or stage drama (you may use the conventions of the horror genre)
 * <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">a report by the chief of police, after the killing has happened
 * <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">a series of entries in diaries kept by the speaker or the old man from the laboratory