ELA: The Death of Marilyn Monroe Analysis
Who wrote this poem?
Sharon Olds
When was this poem written?
1984
Who was Marilyn Monroe married to?
Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller
Who was Marilyn Monroe?
A 1950s film sex symbol
Who did Marilyn Monroe allegedly have affairs with?
John and Bobby Kennedy
When did Marilyn Monroe die?
1962
How did Marilyn Monroe die?
An overdose of sleeping pills
How old was Marilyn Monroe when she died?
36
What does this poem develop?
A tension between her fame and the effects of ordinary people who encountered her shortly after her death
What is this poem?
A brief meditation on mortality, sexuality, and celebrity
What is the only part of this poem that identifies Marilyn Monroe?
The title
What does the poem really concentrate on?
The “ambulance men” who transported her corpse
What does the first stanza describe?:
“The ambulance men touched her cold
body, lifted it, heavy as iron,
onto the stretcher, tried to close
the mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the side, moved a caught
strand of hair, as if it mattered,
saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by
gravity, under the sheet,
carried her, as if it were she,
down the steps.”
“The ambulance men touched her cold
body, lifted it, heavy as iron,
onto the stretcher, tried to close
the mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the side, moved a caught
strand of hair, as if it mattered,
saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by
gravity, under the sheet,
carried her, as if it were she,
down the steps.”
The physical interaction between the ambulance man and Monroe’s body
What do lines 3-5 mean?:
“onto the stretcher, tried to close
the mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the side, moved a caught”
“onto the stretcher, tried to close
the mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the side, moved a caught”
Her dead body is being manipulated
What does line 7 mean?:
“saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by”
“saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by”
Mortality has brought her down to earth
What does line 9 mean?:
“carried her, as if it were she,”
“carried her, as if it were she,”
In death, she can no longer feel; she is no longer associated with her famous name
What does line 11 mean?:
“These men were never the same.”
“These men were never the same.”
The focus of the poem is “those men”
Why is the word “impotence” used in line 17? What does this suggest?
The sight of Marilyn’s dead body unmaned one of the men; it suggest the larger theme of how sexuality is shaped by cultural myths
What does the repetition of “woman” and “breathing” call attention to in lines 23-26?:
“in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.”
“in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.”
The issues of gender and mortality
What do lines 23-26 also symbolize?:
“in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.”
“in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.”
The man’s wife is breathing in an ordinary way unlike the body of Monroe which is not ordinary; in death, Marilyn is stripped of her glamour
