A Comparison of 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning and 'Ulysses' by Alfred Lord Tennyson
These two poems, or monologues, were written by Robert Browning (My
last Duchess) and Alfred Lord Tennyson (Ulysses), in the 19th century
during the reign of Queen Victoria. Many other influential writers
were also born in this period. During this time, Britain’s population
doubled from 17.5 million to 37 million. Britain was a very powerful
nation with a strong economy, and had a very large empire that covered
the globe. This brought on an air of pride and confidence. Creature
comforts, such as transport, sanitation and housing were improving
during this time. More men had the vote than ever before, although
women were still not allowed to vote. All was not well however,
begging, drunkenness and child exploitation were extremely common.
Many people were hypocrites: they said one thing but did another. This
period was also one of political unrest.
In My Last Duchess, the Duke has power, importance, prominence, wealth
and control over his life. We know this as he is a “duke” and has many
possessions. He is also looking for more status by marrying into an
even more powerful family than his own, thus gaining more power and
possibly more wealth. In this poem there is a silent listener who is
the servant of the Count of Tyrol.
In Ulysses the speaker also has power, wealth, importance and
prominence. Ulysses has not gained his power through inheritance like
the Duke, but rather by his own exploits on the battlefield. He is not
looking for a new wife, but instead is trying to return to his current
wife. Ulysses is also trying to lose his power, t...
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...ve and that he is
driven by this.
Overall, I think that the poem My Last Duchess was the more successful
poem. By successful I mean that it was a more engaging poem and a more
satisfying poem to read than Ulysses. My Last Duchess also forms a
more successful historical setting and reflects the time period when
it was written better than Ulysses. Ulysses, however, has a more
interesting plot than My Last Duchess and actually moves, whereas My
Last Duchess has a circular plot as the end ties into the beginning of
the poem and can, almost, be read without the middle and still make
sense. All in all, poetry is not my favorite form of literature, but
if I had to pick a poem that I liked best, it would be My Last Duchess
due to the fact that it was a more satisfying and engaging poem to
read, with many hidden meanings.
After centuries of serving as background noise to her husband Ulysses’ odes of sea storms, sirens, and celebrity, the mythological Penelope finally steps into the light in Miriam Waddington’s poem “Ulysses Embroidered.” Functioning as a revisionary text to both the Alfred, Lord Tennyson work “Ulysses” and the tradition of The Odyssey itself, “Ulysses Embroidered” quickly strikes its readers as a fiercely feminist re-envisioning of Penelope and her tale. Waddington’s work allows for an age-old legend to be told in a new way with a bold, feminine speaker, but to what end do her changes remark on Tennyson’s original work? By engaging in two separate modes of revision by both reading against the grain and “constantly [engaging] in dialogue” to work in tandem with the original poem, Waddington
led her to neglect her son at the end of ‘I’m the king of the castle’,
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “Maud; A Monodrama.” Tennyson’s Poetry. Ed. Robert W. Hill New York: W. W. Norton, 1971. 214-215.
Wolfson, Susan and Peter Manning (eds.). The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Romantics and Their Contemporaries. Volume 2A. New York: Longman, 1999.
Marchino, Lois A. "My Last Duchess." Masterplots II: Poetry Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 4. Pasadena: Salem, 1992. 1443-1445.
Tennyson’s abstract poetic genius in combining historical references and deeply felt emotion, causes comprehension obscurity in finding a single thematic idea. The distinction weaved through the works of “Ulysses” and “The Lady of Shalott” is depicted though the mood, structure, and tone. Although the differences vary heavily, an underlying theme of escaping their idle world appears evident through both pieces of writing. Through Ulysses, a grand warrior, and The Lady of Shalott, a locked away mistress, appear as contrary characters, their development in relinquishing themselves from redundant worlds relates them in various manners.
The purpose of this essay is to analyze and compare and contrast the two paired poems “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning and “My Ex-Husband” by Gabriel Spera to find the similarities presented within the pairs. Despite the monumental time difference between “My Last Duchess” and “My Ex-Husband”, throughout both poems you will see that somebody is wronged by someone they thought was a respectable person and this all comes about by viewing a painting on the wall or picture on a shelf.
In the poem “The Widow at Windsor” Rudyard Kipling uses the voice of one of the men to explain what it means to be one of Queen Victoria’s soldiers. The soldier explains how powerful the Queen is and how she uses her power over others to gain what she wants. He also talks about the soldiers that do her bidding. Any idealistic notions the soldiers may have had at the thought of being soldiers is countered by the reality of their day-to-day lives. Kipling’s own life experiences lends credence to the doublespeak that this poem brings to light. “The Widow at Windsor” uses a rapidly paced cadence to draw the reader into a conflicted world where soldiering for a powerful woman is a source of pride and disrespect and furthermore, the readers sees this duality of mind as demonstrable in any time period, regardless of the date.
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue about a duke who is showing the portrait of his first wife, the duchess, to a servant of his future father-in-law, the Count. In a dramatic monologue, the speaker addresses a distinct but silent audience. Through his speech, the speaker unintentionally reveals his own personality. As such, in reading this poem, the reader finds the duke to be self-centered, arrogant, controlling, chauvinistic and a very jealous man. The more he attempted to conceal these traits, however, the more they became evident. There is situational irony (a discrepancy between what the character believes and what the reader knows to be true) in this because the duke does not realize this is what is happening. Instead, he thinks he appears as a powerful and noble aristocrat.
Browning’s works were the primary model for the basic form of the standard Victorian dramatic monologue which was based around a speaker, listener, and a reader. Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” became a model for the dramatic monologue form primarily because of the strict approach he took while developing the poem. One of the aspects characteristic of this work is the authors level of consciousness. Each element in “My Last Duchess” is thoughtfully constructed with form and structure in mind. This poem is filled with dramatic principle that satisfied the Victorian period’s demand for an action and drama that were not overtly apparent in the work. In the case of “My Last Duchess” the drama of the poem is how his character, the Duke, is introduced. In dramatic monologues the character’s self is revealed through thoug...
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and W.B. Yeats, examined together in the same sitting are as different as the Victorian and Post-Modernist eras they emerged from, yet they were both independent thinkers of their time.
'Ulysses' is both a lament and an inspiring poem. Even modern readers who are not so familiar with the classics, can visualize the heroic legend of Ulysses, and so is not prepared for what he finds in the poem— not Ulysses the hero but Ulysses the man.
has a listener within the poem, but the reader of the poem is also one
middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Tennyson, Alfred. The Lord. “Ulysses.”
In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.