Satellites Flashcards
(3 cards)
A toccata of Galuppi’s (+Porphyrias lover and My last duchess)
Theme: Mortality and the Transience of Life
Toccata: Speaker becomes haunted by the inevitability of death beneath the lively image of 18th-century Venice; music triggers existential dread.
My Last Duchess: The Duke’s control over life and death (he “gave commands”) hints at the fragility of life, especially under power.
Porphyria’s Lover: Death is immediate and physical — he strangles Porphyria to preserve a perfect moment forever.
Theme: Control, Power, and Possession
Toccata: Speaker imagines Venetians vainly seeking control through appearances and pleasure; ultimately futile.
My Last Duchess: The Duke objectifies his wife, framing her as a piece of art to assert dominance — literal and symbolic control.
Porphyria’s Lover: The lover kills Porphyria at the moment he believes she is his completely — a dark fantasy of power and possession.
Art vs. Reality
Toccata: Music represents both beauty and haunting impermanence.
Duchess: The painting becomes a disturbing replacement for a real, vibrant woman.
Porphyria: The dead body is “propped” up like a doll — love becomes aestheticised in death.
Two In the Campagna (+ Porphyrias lover and My Last duchess)
Theme: Desire and Frustration in Love
Campagna: Speaker longs for emotional/spiritual unity with his lover but laments the impossibility of ever fully possessing another’s soul.
Duchess: The Duke desires total control over his wife — frustrated by her independence and emotional generosity.
Porphyria: The speaker cannot bear the idea of losing Porphyria’s devotion, so he kills her to freeze their perfect moment.
Theme: Time, Permanence, and the Fleeting Nature of Feeling
Campagna: Nature and the Roman landscape make the speaker aware of love’s impermanence and his inability to “fix” moments in time.
Duchess: The Duke turns the living Duchess into a permanent portrait — a grotesque attempt to immortalise control.
Porphyria: The speaker kills her to preserve her love eternally — an extreme act of “freezing time.”
Theme: Control vs. Freedom
Campagna: The speaker wants to transcend boundaries with his lover but recognises her autonomy — there’s tension, not violence.
Duchess: The Duke cannot tolerate his wife’s free-spiritedness, so he removes her (likely by murder).
Porphyria: The speaker takes complete control in one chilling act — he kills Porphyria just when she gives herself to him.
Duffy Satellite comparisons
Theme: Critique of Male Ego, Ambition, and Obsession
Pygmalion’s Bride: Male desire is selfish and reductive — he wants an ideal, not a person.
Mrs Sisyphus: Husband is so obsessed with his endless task he neglects her entirely.
Little Red Cap: Older male poet uses the girl for inspiration — she outgrows him.
Mrs Icarus: Husband’s ambition is foolish — she laughs at him.
Mrs Midas: Midas values wealth over love, destroying his marriage
Theme: Female Growth, Autonomy, and Rebellion
Pygmalion’s Bride: Resists submission by “playing dead”; later asserts her own desire.
Mrs Sisyphus: Rejects her husband’s tunnel-vision; chooses independence.
Little Red Cap: Learns, matures, and leaves male control behind to forge her own voice.
Mrs Icarus: Doesn’t mourn him — proud to be rid of a fool.
Mrs Midas: Breaks from her husband — chooses sanity and safety over staying in a toxic relationship.
Tone: Satirical vs. Sombre
Satirical/Ironic: Mrs Icarus, Mrs Sisyphus, Pygmalion’s Bride (dark humour).
Reflective/Emotional: Mrs Midas, Little Red Cap (bittersweet, complex emotional arcs).
