My Last Duchess Essay

301 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on dramatic monologues

My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue by Robert Browning and it describes a story of a Duke in Renaissance Italy. The Duke requests to have his ex-duchess painted on a wall in his home and he is taking his time remembering all of traits and as it seems that she was pleasant towards everyone and the duke attempts to seem like he is complementing. On a quick glance through the poem you may think that the duke is a generous and caring person, but reading through it thoroughly, it show how insecure and selfish the duke really is. The duke says “I choose
Never to stoop” but he goes on to talk about how he saw her smile when someone gave her some cherries, which means most likely he watched her moves because he was insecure. There is no hint

Show More
Related

  • The Princess Bride Essay

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death.” (Goldman 358) That was said by William Goldman at the end of his novel The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is a book about a girl named Buttercup who learns throughout the book, about the difficulties of life. Buttercup learns about love, adventure, and truthfulness of life, and people. Buttercup lived in a farm in Florin opposite from the land of Guilder. Her family owned a boy she called “Farm boy.” Buttercup teased Farm boy and told him what to do. One day, the Count and Countess of Florin show up at Buttercups families farm, and asks for their cows milk, which was said to be the best milk around. The Countess takes an interest in Westly, the farm boy, and Buttercup realizes her love for him. When Buttercup admitted to her love for Westly, he told her he was moving to America to build a future for the both of them. Soon, Buttercup got a call that informed her of Westly’s death, she was petrified. Later in the book, the Prince of Florin decided he needed a princess because his father, the king, was very ill. Soon, he would become king, and there must be a queen. Prince Humperdinck went to Buttercups farm to gather her so she could become his wife. Buttercup did so and the marriage was soon to be. One day, when Buttercup had been living in the Princes castle, she decided to go for a ride on her horse. Buttercup was kidnapped by three men, Inigo, Vizzini, and Fezzik. They were planning on taking Buttercup to Guilder to kill her so there could be a war between Florin and Guilder. The group was followed by a “man in black” who turned out to be Westly Buttercups love. Westly defeated each man and planned on taking Buttercup to...

    Read More

  • Comparing Poe's Poems My Last Duchess And Annabel Lee

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘My Last Duchess’ was a poem written in 1842 by English poet Robert Browning. Browning’s use of dramatic monologue in the poem

    Read More

  • Creating a Sense of Menace and Unease in Poetry

    3905 Words  | 8 Pages

    The last poem I chose was ‘My Last Duchess’, this is a poem about the

    Read More

  • victorian era

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    “My Last Duchess” is written in rhymed iambic pentameter lines. It is about the inner thoughts of an individual speaker (Duke) who reveals a portrait of his former wife to the count’s agent and explains what happened as well as what led to her unfortunate fate. There are several hints of symbolism and imagery that play a key role throughout the poem, such as the portrait of the duchess, the smiling, and the stooping. Not much is said about the portrait except that is lifelike and captures the duchess’s emotional state. The Duchess’s smile and joyous state are the biggest signs of imagery in the portrait itself and the poem. According to the Duke, he thinks their worthless because ...

    Read More

  • Compare two Robert Browning poems - The Laboratory and My last Duchess.

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    The topic of the poem in My Last Duchess is infact a painting, had it

    Read More

  • My Last Duchess Analysis

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess reveals the story of a duke’s negotiation with a servant for the hand of a count’s daughter. As the duke attempts to paint an inaccurate picture of himself as a loving and caring husband, he instead shows what a psychopathic, manipulative and jealous man he can be by describing the “disrespectful” acts of his former wife that led him to her murder. Mr. Browning carefully constructs his poem’s most distinctive attribute, the duke’s controlling nature, through form, meter, symbolism, and rhythm.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing My Last Duchess And To His Coy Mistress

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poems “My Last Duchess” and “To His Coy Mistress”, several poetic and literary devices are utilized to create each speaker’s attitude toward women in different ways . Most readers will realize that in both poems, the orators view women in a pessimistic and sexist way. Imagery, figurative language, tone shifts, and words with negative connotations assist the speaker in creating this perspective. Similarly, different characteristics of the women from each poem are revealed, as well as each speaker’s negative opinions on these traits.

    Read More

  • Porrphyria's Lover And My Last Duchess Comparison Essay

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Browning was poet during the Victorian Age, his wrote about love and established this through his characters. His works explore the nature of love, as shown in “Porphria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess.” Throughout both poems, Robert Browning uses multiple literary devices to help establish the theme of the nature of love.

    Read More

  • My Last Duchess Essay

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The general incongruity in Browning's "My Last Duchess" is that it truly is not about the duchess, but rather about the controlling, jealous, and arrogant nature of the duke. In his monologue portraying an artwork of his previous wife, the duke acquaints us with his dull and evil qualities. By giving us the Duke of Ferrara as a case, Robert Browning unpretentiously censures the respectability for their poor

    Read More

  • A Comparison of 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning and 'Ulysses' by Alfred Lord Tennyson

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    if I had to pick a poem that I liked best, it would be My Last Duchess

    Read More

  • Use of Irony, Diction, and Imagery in My Last Duchess

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess”, power is used to demonstrate the arrogant, jealous, and controlling nature of the speaker, the Duke. The first two lines of the poem introduce the reader to the topic of the Duke’s speech, a painting of his late wife. The lines, “that’s my last Duchess painted on the wall/Looking as if she were still alive” (Browning 1-2), appear to be about his late wife on the surface but mention of the Duchess is secondary to the self-importance expressed by the Duke in his speech. Furthermore, the lines reveal that the Duchess was relatively insignificant to him. By stating that the painting of the late Duchess “looks as if she were still alive” (Browning 2), instead of noting that the painting is lifelike, the Duke appears to have only valued the Duchess for her physical experience.

    Read More

  • Comparing My Last Duchess, La Belle Dame Sans Merci and A Woman to Her Lover

    1934 Words  | 4 Pages

    over his wife as he refers to her as a belonging; it also shows that

    Read More

  • The Duchess As a Very Remarkable Woman in a Man's World

    2509 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Duchess As a Very Remarkable Woman in a Man's World The Duchess is clearly the central figure in the play and manages to dominate proceedings, despite the untouchable power of her brothers and the firmly established patriarchal system in early-16th century Italy. She displays many admirably qualities, although her courageous strength and passion could be perceived as threatening in a male-dominated society. The Duchess is the sole female figure with any sort of power and respect in Webster's play. This is unusual firstly, because he based The Duchess Of Malfi on a version by William Painter in which the Duchess was portrayed as too lusty in a sternly moralistic fashion honourable as opposed to honourable. Also, although the Duchess is never referred to by her name, she is a very individual character and, having no female equals, conducts herself very well as a free spirit in a world of stifling constrictions.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Duke in Browning's "My Last Duchess"

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about My Last Duchess Essay

Open Document