Chains and Stones

Robert Browning appears to be a brooding man; writing of dramatic and depressing poetry. “My Last Duchess” is a poem about a ruthless wealthy man who is cryptal in his explanation to his listener about the specific details of how his next wife should be. The listener is an agent who is representing the new bride and is ensnared in the vile trap of the Duke of Ferrara. The second poem is of a seemingly unstable husband who doesn’t know what to do with is worshipping and loving wife. She comes home from the rain and places herself in her lover’s arms; however, his reaction isn’t warming. In these two similarly contrasting works of art; there is the difference of the men, their ways of dealing with their significant other, and similarly; their reasons for their actions.

First, Robert Browning created his men dwelling in these poems as different in their ways of characteristics. The Duke was a controlling man; power seeped and has become a leech to his humanity. Purposes of life are irrelevant when it comes to women and wives; they should be objects of trophies and not bodies with brains. He is jealous and angry at his last Duchess for showing affection; not matter the type, to other people. Her attention should always be focused and dilated on the Duke. The indecisive lunatic of “Porphyria’s Lover” is a different brooding man. This man is silent and never makes a noise from his mouth. The husband is “debat[ing] what to do…she was mine, mine, fair” (Lines 35-36 Lover). All the while the gorgeous woman who is claimed as his wife is practically worshipping him. Pronouncing her love for him and ideally worshipping him. When he finally takes action, it isn’t a loving touch.

Second, “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” are works of ...

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...re is the possibility of him hating her and wanting a new wife who wasn’t too adoring and obsessive.

In conclusion, the similarity of reasons for their actions, ways of dealing with their lovers, and the difference of the two men are comparison and contrasts of the two poems. Robert Browning had a motive to writing these poems; it could be a possibility of writing to his own lover or mocking the ways of most men. The anger and jealousy of one and the lunacy of another. The Duke brought to the table: money, power, and a 900 year old name. However, there were rules for his new wife: keep your attention on me and don’t express yourself to others. The devious man from “Prophyria’s Lover” wanted his woman to love him; it is even said “I looked up at her eyes Happy and proud…” (Lines 31-32). But the worship of him was too far and too much for him to absorb and deal with.