Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices Essay (Article)

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

Introduction

Under Milk Wood is a play for voices play which was written by Dylan Thomas. Thomas used poetic techniques while writing the play. The play is narrated by two voices, the voice of the blind Captain Cat as they all inform the audience of the dreams and lives of people from a small town as viewed by the narrators. The narrations are in a poetic form, as the audiences are informed by the villagers’ thoughts and dreams. At several points, the narration stops and the villagers enact their own behavior in a character that is similar to the narrations.

Poetic Techniques

The frequently used poetic techniques found in the play are alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, similes, compound adjectives and personification. An example of alliteration in Under Milk Wood is found in the phrase, “clip-clop” and an example of a use of assonance is “cows low”. Thomas frequently uses onomatopoeia within the play, moos, buzzes, boozed are just but a few examples. There are several similes that Thomas has used, “dusty and echoing as a dining hall in the vault”, “she swallows a digestive tablet as big as a horse pill” and “clocks shaped like Noah’s whiling Ark” are a few examples (Thomas, 1954). Thomas makes use of compound adjectives examples being, bible-black, dab-filled sea, sea-dark street, high-backed hygienic chair and beady-eyed. There is the use of personification in the play, “the lulled and dump founded town”, “the night moving in the trees”, and “the sunny slow lulling afternoon yawns” are good examples.

Characters

One of the characters the narrator talks about is Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard who has twice been widowed, first by the late Mr. Ogmore, a retired linoleum salesman and secondly by the late Mr. Pritchard, a failed bookmaker. Thomas depicts Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard’s character as lonely, miserable and confused as she continuously continues to make conversation with her dead husbands. Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard owns a guest house that she keeps spotlessly clean (Thomas, 1954). She is always having dreams of her late husbands as she soliloquies and imagines a conversation with them. At the beginning of the plays, the imagined conversation with her late husband is one of them repeating in an orderly manner as daily tasks.

This conversation is again repeated at night before she sleeps. She is thus portrayed as an over-orderly woman as she has set instructions for each one of them. This character is portrayed throughout the play. She eats starch-less bread and sips lemon-rind tea and again when she denies accommodation to the bird-studying gentleman. The first again informs the audience on how Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard belches in a small hanky and that she tries to “chase the sunlight with a flywhisk”.

Conclusion

Her blinds as the narrator inform us are germ-free. This analysis depicts a character that is obsessed with order and has a disturbed mind. She talks to her already dead husband and because of her obsession with order and cleanliness, even refuses to accommodate a potential tenant, yet the guest room is vacant. It is this obsession with a tidiness that has led to her loneliness which can be felt as she “wills herself to cold”. Though her husbands are dead the narrator portrays that they had lived in awe of her and they do not want to appreciate her loving words as they both hope that the “I love you” she mumbles in her dreams was meant for the other. They respond in terror and horror.

Reference

Thomas, D. (1954). Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2021, December 28). Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices. https://ivypanda.com/essays/under-milk-wood-a-play-for-voices/

Work Cited

"Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices." IvyPanda, 28 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/under-milk-wood-a-play-for-voices/.

References

IvyPanda. (2021) 'Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices'. 28 December.

References

IvyPanda. 2021. "Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices." December 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/under-milk-wood-a-play-for-voices/.

1. IvyPanda. "Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices." December 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/under-milk-wood-a-play-for-voices/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Under Milk Wood: A Play for Voices." December 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/under-milk-wood-a-play-for-voices/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1