Death of-marilyn-monroe-analysis-only

“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”

Edwin Morgan

Marilyn Monroe - BiographyMarilyn 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 broad-ened 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 rumored 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.

You can find out more about theories surrounding Marilyn’s death by watching Conspiracy Theories - The Death of Marilyn Monroe

You can find out more about Marilyn’s life by watching this documentary

Marilyn in action:I Wanna Be Loved By YouSome Like it HotThe Seven Year ItchHappy Birthday Mr PresidentDiamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

YouTube clips

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 drug overdose, shocked the world, coming at a time when she appeared to have everything – beauty, wealth, and success.

Monroe represented the American Dream: the small-town 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 rumored 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-honored fashion, clamored 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 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...This highlights to the reader that the poem will be exploring the themes of responsibility and innocence.

The poem reminds the reader of the price paid by the private person for living life to the full in the public eye.

with the clamour of questions echoing the public’s (and the media’s) reaction to the news of Marilyn Monroe’s 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!

This series of short questions conveys the sense of loss felt by Morgan, and the public...

and the shocking and confusing nature of her death.

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.

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.

Rhetoric (using language effectively and persuasively) is used to make the reader re-evaluate his/her opinion of the media.

By mimicking newspaper headlines, Morgan alludes to the media’s obsession with Monroe, in life and in death.

Morgan feels this media obsession was at least partly responsible for Monroe’s death...

as she had no privacy and was constantly hounded by them.

Mirrors the snap-shot click of cameras?

Accusative tone

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!

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.

Who abandoned her?

The public? Media? Film industry?

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 Coroner’s report of Marilyn Monroe’s death concluded her death was due to a massive overdose of 47 nembutal capsules.

Nembutal is a barbiturate that acts as a central nervous system depressant…

and produces a wide range of effects, from mild sedation to anaesthesia.

She died in her bed.

It has been connected to many overdoses and has been used in assisted suicide.

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!

this continues the idea of child-like innocence.

Usually associated with the death of a child...

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!

Pace accelerates again in line 4 – series of angry outbursts, punctuated by exclamation marks.

Morgan points the finger of blame at areas of Monroe’s life which he feels contributed to her destruction.

Exclamation marks suggest the shouting of a news vendor.

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!

Monroe’s 2nd and 3rd husbands - Joe Di Maggio (1954) and Arthur Miller (1956-61).

Film industry.

American public.

Repetition – emphasises the key part Los Angeles (i.e. the American film industry) had in her death.

That Death should seem the only protector -That all arms should have faded, and the great cameras and lightsbecome an inquisition and a torment -That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, theinflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should becomea blur of incomprehension and pain -

Personification – Death as kind figure.

Ironic paradox – suggests that life is so intolerable that death is seen as a welcome release.

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.

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 lightsbecome an inquisition and a torment -That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, theinflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should becomea blur of incomprehension and pain -

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.

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.

‘autograph hunters’ - idea of relentless pursuit.

That Death should seem the only protector -That all arms should have faded, and the great cameras and lightsbecome an inquisition and a torment -That the many acquaintances, the autograph hunters, theinflexible directors, the drive-in admirers should becomea 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.

That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, withbewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and liedown and in her anguishcall for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could onlydissolve her! A methodof dying, we are shaken, we see it. Strasberg!

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.

“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, withbewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and liedown and in her anguishcall for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could onlydissolve her! A methodof 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.

That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, withbewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and liedown and in her anguishcall for him! Call for him to strengthen her with what could onlydissolve her! A methodof 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.

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.

Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others dieand yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,America.

Repetition - further reinforces the film industry’s role in her death.

Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others dieand yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,America.

Laurence Olivier, who starred with Marilyn in ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ (1957).

Olivier also directed the film and there was a great deal of conflict on the set between Monroe and him.

He became frustrated with his co-star, often raising his voice in anger and occasionally insulting her.

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.

Los Angeles! Olivier! Los Angeles! Others dieand yet by this death we are a little shaken, we feel it,America.

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.

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 sayperhaps she had said. 'All I had was my life.

Secret language.

Morgan goes on to comment more directly on her death.

Begins by emphasising the importance of communication in people’s lives.

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 sayperhaps she had said. 'All I had was my life.

She died trying to reach out to someone.

Morgan quotes Monroe’s words.

Emphasises her loneliness and isolation.

I have no regrets, because if I madeany mistakes, I was responsible.There is now - and there is the future.What has happened is behind. Soit follows you around? So what?' - Thisto 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.

And so she was responsible.And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, LosAngeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will theslow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?

Strong sense of ironyPrepares reader for his hard hitting concluding lines

Poem ends as it began...

with a series of questions...

focusing on responsibility and innocence.

And so she was responsible.And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, LosAngeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will theslow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?

This is repeated for the third time…

emphasising the extent to which Morgan blames the pressures of celebrity for Marilyn’s death.

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.

And so she was responsible.And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, LosAngeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will theslow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?

Repeats image of white hearse.

Reinforces the idea of Monroe’s innocence and vulnerability.

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 child-like innocence.

And so she was responsible.And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, LosAngeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will theslow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?

This metaphor also contains an implied sense of parental responsibility on the part of American society.

The reader is left feeling ‘Mother America’ has abdicated all responsibility for her child.

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 child-like innocence.

‘Death of Marilyn Monroe’ - Essay questions

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.

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…