In contrast to Macbeth’s love for his wife, in Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ there is an absence of the romanticised emotion of love. The Duke refers to his wife as ‘My Last Duchess. Here the use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ gives us the idea from the outset that the Duke saw his wife as merely a possession. The iambic pentameter of ten syllables per line used in the poem also emphasises possession by stressing ‘my’ further in the pattern. Browning’s portrayal of love is one that is absent of emotional attachment, but instead something by which he could possess and have power over her. It could be argued that there are similarities in the way that Lady Macbeth also uses the emotion of love. Being in the form of a dramatic monologue, use
The Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Throughout the play of "Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare there is an on-going relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This relationship is one of the functions of the play that creates most of the actions, reactions, moods, feelings and attitudes. Macbeth's relationship with his wife was not always great. This is shown in one of there conversations; MACBETH: "We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. "(Macbeth,I,vii, )
Shakespeare and Holinshed both wrote similar plays about a tyrant king who gained control of the throne through destructive means. There are several big similarities between the two plays and it is commonly believed that Shakespeare copied Holinshed’s Chronicles and changed a couple factors of the play in order to cater to King James’ interests. Some of the aspects which Shakespeare revised were the witches and the characters: Banquo, Duncan, and Macbeth himself.
“My Last Duchess” is written in a dramatic monologue style, which allows the readers to see the true temperament of Browning’s character, Duke Ferrara, and how his personality was similar to that of an imposing, imperialistic country. One key point of reverse imperialism, which society would notice in the poem, would be the compulsive nature to collect things as the Duke does. Imperialistic countrie...
Love and Hate are powerful emotions that influence and control how we interact with people. To express this influence and control and the emotions associated with love and hate, for instance, joy, admiration, anger, despair, jealousy, and disgust, author's craft their writing with literary elements such as as structure, figurative language, imagery, diction, symbolism, and tone. Poems in which these can be seen present are “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, and “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare. Within “My Papa’s Waltz” a mighty love is seen between the father and son. To express this Roethke uses figurative language, symbolism and diction. Within “My Last Duchess” there is little love, but an ample hate towards the duchess from the Duch. To express this the
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”.
Throughout the Shakespeare story of Macbeth, the Robert Browning poem My Last Duchess, and the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice, each of them has an element of destructive love within their stories. Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the Duke of Ferra and his wife, and Elizabeth and Darcy, all of those characters may be from different stories, but are all connected through their experiences with love. How does Lady Macbeth affect the story of Macbeth with what she’s said to Macbeth, and what does it later leave her to say to herself later down the line? What does happiness lead to in the poem, My Last Duchess? And what does marriage mean in the story of Pride and Prejudice?
Lady Macbeth As a Fiend-Like Queen Lady Macbeth has weaknesses which are hidden by a strong exterior. Her ambitions overpower her worries and doubts about behaving and acting in a diabolical way. This makes her initially seem evil or “fiend-like”. Yet she has different strands to her character. By the end of the play, however, the better side of Lady Macbeth’s character surfaces.
Several times, whether in history or literature, there have been substantial demonstrations of the achievement of power, but very few from women. The yearning for power has also been displayed in a negative light due to its constant association with corruption. But is it really the power that leads to corruption or is there another factor? As John Steinbeck has said, “Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts. Perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are demonstrations of ambition driving the protagonists to acquire power which they in return, fear to lose. This fear, inevitably leads to each character’s destruction. However, all of which has been said, it is left to the interpretation of the reader or audience to really understand what Shakespeare meant. It is obvious that Shakespeare sees the destruction ambition and power can cause, but very often we assume that this occurs through Macbeth, when in reality it is Lady Macbeth. Most of the audience focuses solely on Macbeth after the first act, but fail to realize that the play would be nothing without Lady Macbeth’s obsession with power. The evil residing in Lady Macbeth knows that in her beloved husband is “too full of the milk of human kindness.”
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...
In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," a representation of the loving Duke of Ferrara is painted for us. Despite the fact that the duke's monologue shows up at first glance to be about his late wife, a nearby perusing will demonstrate that the notice of his last duchess is just a side note in his affected speech. Browning utilizes the sensational monologue frame skillfully to demonstrate to us the controlling, arrogant, and envious characteristics the duke had while never specifying them unequivocally.
My Last Duchess (1842), by Robert Browning uses a renaissance context to comment on the Victorian period and convey societal issues of the time. Through the use of a temporal setting and by writing in a different context, Browning criticises society in the time of the Victorian era and addresses crucial ideas, surrounding men, women, pride and jealousy and challenges these conventions of society.
Analyzing How Robert Browning Uses Dramatic Monologue to Portray Madness in His Poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover
‘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
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.