The Death of Monroe by the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan is a poem about the suicide of the 1950’s icon Marilyn Munroe, and the public reaction to her death. The poem is set at the time of her death, but still has relevance today, with the growing public and media interest in celebrity figures, which makes the readers appreciate the poem more. In “The Death of ”, the poet makes the reader re- evaluate his or her opinion on the film industry and media and I will attempt to show how this has been achieved through the medium of poetry.

The poet has used rhetoric to make the reader re-evaluate his or her opinion of the media. The first line is a series of rhetorical questions; “What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?” which mimics newspaper headlines, and alludes to the media’s obsession with Marilyn Monroe, both in life and death. These are questions that the public also asked, and shows the shocking, confusing nature of her death. However, this media obsession was at least partly responsible for Marilyn’s demise, as she had no privacy, and was constantly hounded by the press. This causes the reader to think that the media is wrong in its pursuit of celebrities if suicides are the result.

The poem also ends with a series of rhetorical questions, which refers back to the beginning:

“? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around? Will the slow white hearse of the child of America follow you around?”

These questions again make the reader question him or herself about Marilyn’s death, but this time, the cause of her death “Los Angeles?” infers that, in fact, the film industry was partly responsible for her death, and suggests that Hollywood has a dark side too, which makes the reader re-evaluate his or her opinion on the film industry, that it can also cause people harm.

Imagery is also used to make the reader re-evaluate his or her opinion. Marilyn is described as a “crumpled orphan” – an image of abandonment which evokes the reader’s pity, and anger – who abandoned her? This leads the reader to believe that it was the media and film industry who abandoned her, and makes the reader aware of the fickleness of the institutions. The poet refers to Hollywood as “the great cameras and lights” which shows the pompous self-indulgence of the film industry is uncaring and selfish. Personification is used to depict “Death” and “Uncertainty”, showing them to be the only “people” who would help Marilyn when she needed it. The reader feels angry with Hollywood and the press for leaving her in “her hour of need”. The image created by “drive-in admirers” shows the American convenience culture, and leads the reader to believe that the film industry and the media only do what suits them. The most pathetic image of the whole poem is:

“they had to lift her hand from the bedside telephone” which shows that Marilyn only reached out for help at the very end, that she was a broken woman – broken by the incessant demands of Hollywood and the press.

The reader is made to re-evaluate his or her ideas through the use of word choice. “Los Angeles” is reported frequently throughout the poem, which suggests that it was important in her death. “Inquisition” and “torment” show the extent to which Marilyn was pursued by the press, and her prolonged suffering because of it, which makes the reader think the press is damaging, hurtful and dangerous. “Autograph hunters” and “acquaintances” further this idea of relentless pursuit, and the idea that Marilyn had no real friends. The pronoun “we” shows solidarity between the reader and poet, and provides a contrast to the loneliness of Marilyn. It also shows that the poet and reader, as members of the general public, are not entirely blameless for her death – we feed off the celebrity gossip like a pack of ravenous wolves, which causes events like Marilyn’s death to happen. Marilyn is described as a “child of America”, which shows the responsibility of America as a whole, and the media and film industry in particular, for her death.

Thus, in “The Death of Marilyn Monroe” by Edwin Morgan, rhetoric, imagery and word choice are used to make the reader re-evaluate his or her opinion on the media and film industry, leading the readers to believe that they are dangerous, destructive, selfish and hurtful. Reading this poem, the reader also feels chilled that such a “rags- to-riches” story could end so tragically and this makes the reader reflect on and change his or her attitudes to the contemporary cult of celebrity.