In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues, “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess”, both portray women that are killed by their significant others. In “Porphyria’s Lover” her lover seems to be obsessed and not wanting to let her go, whereas in “My Last Duchess”, the speaker appears to be jealous by the woman. By having these two different deaths, why does Browning have the men commit these acts on the woman they love? Perhaps he wants to demonstrate and justify how these acts of crimes where done in the name of love or does he want us to acknowledge certain flaws that made them act on their crimes.
In the widely acclaimed novel “Catching Fire”, the fictional character Peeta Mellark is quoted as saying, “I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever.” (Collins). Coincidentally, that is what the unnamed lover in Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “Porphyria’s Lover” aspires to achieve when he murders his beloved Porphyria, in hopes of preserving their intimate moment for eternity. At the start of the poem, Browning seemingly shows his audience a loving, romantic scene of Porphyria affectionately tending her inert beau. As the dramatic monologue progresses, it is learned that the originally envisioned romantic love story has transformed into a disturbing tale of a cruel lover’s massacre of his significant other. The moment the nameless speaker finally glances into his love’s eyes, he fully abandons his passive nature and reveals his true personality. The persona of Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” reveals himself as a sadistic and covetous lover who views Porphyria as a mere possession, and further illustrates himself as a delusional and selfish person. Browning overtly reveals the speaker’s character through proficient word choice, explicit imagery, and the clever use of irony in the poem.
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
Cheetham, Paul. “Porphyria’s Lover: Paul Cheetham explores the psychological dimensions of Browning’s Dramatic monologue.” The English Review 20.4 (2010): 21+.
The diction, or word choice, that Browning uses in the poem Porphyria’s Lover reveals the madness that was concealed within the speaker. The speaker speaks with natural speech, as it isn’t difficult to understand how he is trying
The notion of the objectification of women and regarding women as possessions not people is a key idea presented in My Last Duchess. In the poem, the Duke’s objectification of his dead wife is a vehicle which the notion is displayed. The use of the Duke’s directive dialogue, “Will’t you please sit and look at her”, highlights how he treats his wife, through her painting, as a
However, the women die in very different ways. In My Last Duchess, the Duke either metaphorically or literally kills the Duchess. This is implied in lines 45-46, which explain, “This grew; I gave commands/Then all smiles stopped together.” There are two ways to interpret these lines; either the Duke gave commands to her to stop smiling, or he gave commands for her to be killed. Either way, it cannot be argued that he was the cause of her death due to his phenomenal envy. To emphasize, George Monteiro, Professor of English at Brown University, points out that, “...the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy.” Similarly, in Porphyria’s Lover, the speaker is the solitary cause of his lover’s demise. He reveals this by describing that, “...all her hair/In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around/And strangled her.” (lines 39-41). This speaker’s motives are out of love rather than hatred. However, as Professor of Philosophy Aaron Ben-Zeev articulates, “Explaining the man’s horrific behavior as stemming from love is in no way a justification for their actions.” Just because the speaker’s motives in Porphyria’s Lover were not due to anger does not mean he can be seen as any better than the Duke. Undoubtedly, the speakers in both poems were responsible for the death of their
In the Victorian era, patriarchal society was a key element of the era and a main theme used by many literary poets such as Robert Browning. Robert Browning wrote the poem “My Last Duchess”. This poem attacks patriarchal society in which all power and authority falls to the men. This poem reflects how women are often victims of violence brought on by men, who go on unpunished. The feminist approach helps us to better understand the poem as the Duchess is presented as a victim to the Duke’s jealousy, and controlling attitude, a victim of her own innocence and emphasizes how the Duke’s power allows him to treat women however he pleases.
Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue about the Duke of Ferrara. In this poem, the duke shows off his painting of his late wife and recalls their past times together to a guest in his home. The duke’s comments about his late wife depict him as a jealous and controlling man.
The speaker of the “My Last Duchess” was a Duke of Ferrara in Italy, and he is ready to get married again. In order to determine the number of dowry, the fiancée’s family sent a representative to negotiate with the Duke. Duke let the envoy that visited art collection in his palace, where he had the portrait of the “last Duchess” – his last wife, now dead. Throughout the poem, the Duke talks about the woman’s imperfections and failure, but it turns out this woman’s “faults” were the qualities like compassion, humility, modesty and treat the best to those to served her.
In his poem “Porphyria’s Lover” we find Browning at his best. The poem is a love poem… but has a lot more to offer than just the bright sunny side of love. For Browning love was a passion, which had its destructive side as well. But this did not in anyway lessen or tarnish its reputation as being the purest emotion. In fact the destruction...
Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue narrated by the Duke of Ferrara Even a passing gaze to this poem would paint a picture of a selfish prick of a husband and a wife whose mere fault was naivete, someone who was merely appreciative of the beauty around her, a quality that bugged her husband to the point where he accuses her of being unfaithful and gets her killed. The narrator of the poem indicates an arrogance embedded so deep in a bold sense of male superiority.
“Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning is a poem, which deals with the subject of love, as the reader sees the speaker of poem driven increasingly mad by his obsessive love for Porphyria. Browning’s detailed characterization of the speaker allows the reader to see the subtle changes in his personality and his growing obsession for Porphyria. Browning clearly demonstrates how the speaker’s feelings of obsessive love lead him to want to control Porphyria, which in turn becomes the desire to possess her. His feelings of obsession become more destructive when in order to possess her he decides to murder her. Finally the reader sees the tragedy of his obsession as the speaker justifies his actions demonstrating to the reader the dark consequences of an obsessive love.
Robert Browning is the author of "My Last Duchess" and he shows the audience how it is a dramatic monologue. In a class lecture, the professor had mentioned that the poem is set in the 15th century. During that time, it was common for a young woman to be arranged in a marriage. As the poem unfolds, the audience learns the speaker of the poem, Duke Ferrara, is talking to another male character and begins to tell the story of his previous wife. As they are standing in front of the portrait of the Duke's last wife, now dead, the Duke talks about her imperfections. The reader discovers that the ex-wife's "imperfections" were qualities such as generosity, courtesy to those who served her, and an overall respected woman. What follows are examples on the nature and personality of the Duke.
Love is a topic that is known worldwide and is greatly debated each and every day. Although not everyone knows what love is, it’s is constantly incorporated in literature. All of the best poets and writers know how to utilize that concept and does it well. Jane Brody explains the importance of love when she writes: “When people fall in love and decide to marry, the expectation is nearly always that love and marriage and the happiness they bring will last; as the vows say, till death do us part.” One of the oddest forms of this writing is from Robert Browning’s texts My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover. In My Last Duchess a man is talking to the painting of his wife, and describing how their love went cold. Porphyria’s Lover is about a couple who works in an odd way, but ends even worse. Through careful analysis of Robert Browning’s two dramatic monologues, the similarities of them include mental instability within the speaker along with strange love that is portrayed but they differ by the extremity of their actions.