Browning's Presentation of the idea of Love in The Laboratory and My Last Duchess

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Browning's Presentation of the idea of Love in The Laboratory and My Last Duchess

Robert Browning was born into a wealthy family in 1812 in the suburbs

of London. His education was a mixture of private instruction and

informal schooling. Browning's father had a library of thousands of

books, this helped Browning develop an immense literary knowledge. As

a boy he was intelligent and he cultivated a taste for books and

learned many languages. Browning had a cultured and intellectual

outlook on life, that is reflected in the dramatic monologues we

studied.

Browning wrote two of his most famous poems, 'The Laboratory' and 'My

Last Duchess' at the start of the Victorian era, a time when Britain

was experiencing immense change. The contrast between the rich and the

poor was remarkable. A large percentage of the society was poverty

stricken. Not everything was negative though, the industrialisation of

Britain was a very exciting time; art, technology and science were

major areas of interest for the Victorians. As familiarity of these

topics developed, the topics excited, gained curiosity, became

fashions and energised the country. Browning's poems are infused with

the important subjects of the time, 'The Laboratory' features the idea

of medicine and chemistry and 'My Last Duchess' art. They also include

of timeless themes such as love, hatred and jealousy which are always

relevant, even today.

'The Laboratory' has a subtitle of 'Ancien Regime', this give us the

suggestion that the poem was based in the time just before the French

revolution, this occurred in the eighteenth century. 'My Last Duchess'

is set upon a sixteenth century Du...

... middle of paper ...

...t of her intention and

social status, 'I dance at the Kings!' This hints of the corruption in

the highest institutions in the country. Although she has money and a

high status, she is still willing to lower herself to get her own way,

as if its for her own entertainment to ruin someone else's life,

unlike the Duke in 'My Last Duchess' to whom, social status and

appearances are everything.

In both the poems, Browning approaches the idea of love in an

unexpected manner. Browning explores the idea of love not as something

that should make you feel good and happy, he doesn't explore the warm

side of love but explores the dark side. Both characters in the poems

show two situations of people that don't respect love. The narrators

both kill in order to get their own way that would not be expected of

a typical love poem.

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