My Last Dutchess by Robert Browning
Robert Browning, one of the most influential and imaginative poets in our history, engulfs readers in a wave of dramatic language, and colorful character representation in the extremely popular poem: “My Last Duchess”, which stands as one of Browning’s most famous literary pieces. In many ways the tone Browning wishes to convey provides a dark background in which many impressions and interpretations of the Duke and his former Duchess can be assessed. “And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, how such a glance came there; so, not the first are you to turn and ask thus” (Kennedy 16). As well, Browning has ingeniously chosen vivid and extraordinary instances through out the poem to hint at obscure character qualities and mysterious moments, that make it seem like the reader is eavesdropping on the personal conversation between the Duke and the nobleman belonging to his new fiancé’s family.
Browning, in the first lines of the dramatic poem, uses immense narration to call attention to many facts and details about the Duke’s presence and life, almost acting like an introduction on things to come. For instance, the first five lines of “My Last Duchess” provide the reader with the Duke’s title (Ferrara), historical reference/setting (Italy), as well as his aristocratic class and environment. With the Duke the main speaker, it is only assumed that he is the only person telling the story of his power and favorable last duchess, showing off her life-like portrait as a trophy. “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive…will’t please you sit and look at her?” (Kennedy 15-16). It is noticed that Browning has used the past tense in this monologue to describe the ...
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...ess” was the true personality of the Duke and revelation of his violent crime that is recognized. The true intentions of the Duke and his visitor are now found out, unmistakably repeating the abusive cycle once more with the Duke’s marriage to a new young girl. There will be the presence of a new Duchess within the Duke’s aristocratic palace, possibly awaiting the same fate as the former Duchess had once before. “Well meet the company below, then. I repeat, the Count your master’s known munificence is ample warrant that no just pretense of mine for dowry will be disallowed; though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed at starting, is my object” (Kennedy 17).
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Kennedy, X.I., and Dana Gioia. An Introduction to Poetry. New York:
Longman, 2002.
Watson, J.R., ed. ‘Men and Women’ and Other Poems. London: MacMillan, 1974.
held, and he is clearly very controlling in his relationships. Browning's use of the first person narrative in "My Last Duchess" allows the reader to gain insight into the Duke's character and personality. The use of the servant as a listener also allows the reader to see how the Duke interacts with others and how he wants to be perceived. Overall, Browning's use of the first person narrative in his dramatic monologues is a powerful tool in revealing the thoughts and feelings of his characters.
...nners of the lover and the Duke. Fearing the final loss of life, both murderers attempt to overpower their female subjects; they turn their objects of desire into beautiful objects which can never be lost, simultaneously attaining the role of masterful subject.
It goes on to speak about sympathy in general and how Browning “delighted in making a case for the apparently immoral position”, how he found dramatic monologues the best form to do so, and how he went about it. It keeps going for a couple more pages on things which I will not go into because they have little relevance to any interpretation of “My Last Duchess”.
Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a haunting poem that tells the story of a seemingly perfect wife who dies, and then is immortalized in a picture by her kind and loving husband. This seems to be the perfect family that a tragic accident has destroyed. Upon further investigation and dissection of the poem, we discover the imperfections and this perfect “dream family” is shown for what it really was, a relationship without trust.
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.
No more than thirty years old, the Duchess had the shadow of the experience over her visage, but was still young enough to be an absolutely stunning woman. The honey colored hair cascaded down one of her shoulders, in a loose braid that reached the height of her hips. A crimson silk dress made sure to hide only what was needed of her curvaceous, athletic body, and the stone cold gray eyes pierced through me and Kevin before she said: “To what do I owe the displeasure of this visit, officers?” she uttered, the melodic voice in a rather annoyed tone. “Duchess Samantha of Hemmerich, I presume?”
In 1842, Robert Browning published a book entitled Dramatic Lyrics, which was a famous work that contained a collection of dramatic monologues. Two of the poems found in this book were “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess”. In “Porphyria’s Lover”, Browning introduces a powerful insight into the demented mind of an extremely possessive man, while “My Last Duchess” tells a story about the Duke of Ferrara revealing to a guest the murder of his wife and the motives behind it. The two speakers share similar qualities, both being extremely possessive and completely unremorseful. A key difference between the two narrators is how they show their love for their mistresses. Both poems were written in the literary from known as dramatic monologue, and narrated by a male speaker. A dramatic monologue shows the reader the narrator’s inner thoughts and motives when involved in a particular situation. Using this literary technique, Browning allows the reader to explore the abnormal psychology of the two speakers and also to get closely involved with two acts of murder.
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...
Throughout "My Last Duchess," Browning uses diction to further increase the haunting effect of his dramatic monologue. His precise and scattered word choice is meant to make the reader recognize the underlying haughtiness in his speech to the Count's emissary. The Duke refers to his former wife's portraits "depth" and "passion" in order to place a cloudiness over the realism of the painting. This, along with the "faint" and "half-flush" appearance that "dies along her throat," brings about an overcast appearance to the poem. The Duke's "trifling" lack of "countenance" is evident in his jealousy of
Throughout ‘My Last Duchess’, the Duke is portrayed by Browning as a domineering figure who has an obsession with controlling and manipulating others. One way the Duke tries to assert his dominance is by controlling the rhythm of speech. The poem is written in iambic pentameter but the Duke constantly distorts it with caesurae. In the beginning of the poem, the Duke calls ‘That piece a wonder, now’, where the comma before ‘now’ breaks up the rhythm and allows the Duke to control that line. The break also exposes that the painting is laced with a sinister meaning of how his ‘Last’ Duchess was only right in the Duke’s eyes after she died, especially when he had her confined to a two-dimensional portrait and she was unable to speak or move freely
‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ are both poems by the Victorian poet Robert Browning. In this essay I will compare these two poems to find similarities and differences.
In conclusion, Mr. Robert Browning depicts in ‘My Last Duchess” that the Duke is not an ideal husband by referencing how controlling he is over women and other people in his vicinity. Mr. Browning also references the Duke’s jealous and petty actions that make him seem desperate for a way to seek attention. That is why the Duke disposes of her since she was not giving him the proper care he wanted he decided that she was not worthy. The Duke is also not an ideal husband based on his views of how disposal women are to him. His jealousy and insecurity lead him to be an unhappy self-centered
I will just do two because I don't want my post to be extra long. (The quote might make it still long but I am trying to make them fit in with the sentence as we talked about in class). 2.In the poem, "My Last Duchess" the Duke of Ferrara's attitude toward women is somewhat shown/know if you look at the detail and think about that time. As we know they said that the dukes last wife had dies of some suspicious circumstances.
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.