The river God

The river God

STORY
1. says he'll drown anyone who isn't careful
2. River God says he likes it when people go swimming
  1. especially women
3. May be old but he's still powerful
4. A woman goes swimming and drowns when she's too close to the cliffs
5. Body is tangled in weeds on the river bed
6. River God calls her beautiful and wants to look after her
7. Doesn't want her to leave and says he will never forgive her if she does
FORM AND STRUCTURE
1. Enjambment makes it flow like water
2. Dramatic Monolouge
3. Uses regular rhyming couplets to give a songlike quality
4. At the beginning he is presented as kind and friendly
5. Becomes more threatening and possessive
  1. emphasised by hidden warnings near the end and ominous final line
    Annotations:
    - OMINOUS: giving the impression that something bad is going to happen
MY IDEAS
1. It uses a euphemism to describe how he drowned the woman but making it sound more innocent that he is
  1. "So I brought her down here"
2. The poet creates an image of a harsh and powerful old God who is proud and arrogant much like OZYMANDIAS
3. He could be presented as a male character because they had lots of power over women in the time era of the poem and the poets life
  1. could be suggesting how she feels men treat women
4. I think the poet is saying that in a heterosexual relationship that men generally have the most power and can be seen to be drowning the women in their ways of life
  1. They can be seen to be taking away the woman's life without actually killing them
    1. Much like the women in 'my last duchess' and 'les grands siegneurs'
LANGUAGE
1. contrasts
  1. old smelly river contrasts with beautiful women
  2. river God uses affectionate language which contrasts with harsh reality of women's death making it more shocking
2. euphemism
  1. river God suggests the woman is sleeping rather than dead
  2. Uses ambiguous language and images of love rather than death
    1. suggests he's deluded into thinking she might love him in return
      1. Like Deborah and God :p
3. Power and objectification
  1. River God seems desperate to keep women on the river bed
  2. Possessive over her and doesn't want her to leave
  3. Calls her beautiful and focuses on her appearance showing he values it
  4. Image of appearance also seems a bit sexual
FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES
1. Love
  1. River God desires women
  2. Obsessed by woman's beauty
  3. Says he wants to care for her
2. Arrogance
  1. He's powerful but careless
  2. treats dying humans like toys
  3. He considers human life to be quite insignificant
3. Selfishness
  1. Possessive over the woman
  2. doesn't want to share the woman

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	Created by princessscout over 11 years ago