Similarities of Last and Lover
“The Discussion of Last and Lover” Robert Browning is the author if the poem’s My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover. In the poem My Last Duchess Robert Browning talks about a picture of his last duchess. Also in this poem the author talks about his women as though they are art and how they are his possessions. In the poem Porphyria’s Lover Robert Browning tells about how he his love does something that upsets him. The author also discusses how he makes her be loyal to just him. In both of these poem there are many thing that are similar.
The first thing that makes My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover similar is how in both of the poem the women are killed by their husbands. In My Last Duchess by Robert
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In the poem My Last Duchess the husband is jealous of what the wife does because when he was getting her portrait painted she smiled at the man who was painting it. Robert Browning states, “She rode with round the terrace-all and each would draw from her alike the approving speech, or blush at least. She thanked men-good! But thanked somehow-I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-year old name with anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame this sort of trifling? Even had you skill in speech-(which I have not)-to make you will quite clear to such an one, say Just this or that in you disgusts me.” (Pg. 980 Lines 29-38) Browning states this in his poem because he shows how he is jealous of the way that his wife looks at other men. In the poem Porphyria’s Lover the husband is jealous because he knows something that his wife has done. In the poem Robert Browning states, “ The rain set early in tonight, the sullen wind was soon awake, it tore the elm-tops down spite, and did it’s worst to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break.”(Pg. 982 Lines 1-5) Browning states this in his poem to show that the husband sits there and he is very jealous of what she did. Clearly, the husbands in both My Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover are very …show more content…
In the poem My Last Duchess the duke says his wife is a possession when he is talking to someone about the picture of his wife. Robert Browning states, “The Count your master’s known munificence is ample warrant that no one just pretense of mine for dowry will be disallowed; though his fair daughter’s self, as avowed at starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go together down, sir! Notice Neptune though Taming a seahorse, through a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!”(Pg. 980 Lines 49-56) Robert Browning states this in his poem to show how the duke sees his wife as a piece of work. In the poem Porphyria's Lover the author thinks of his wife as a possession because he is jealous of the other men that look at her. In the poem Browning states, “ Porphyria’s love: she guessed not how her darling one wish would be heard. And thus we sit together now, and all night long we have not stirred, and yet God has not said a word!”(Pg. 984 Lines 56-60) Robert states this in his poem to show how the husband sees his wife. Clearly, Robert Browning wanted to make these poems similar by having both of the men see their wives as
The death of the female beloved is the only way deemed possible by the insecure, possessive male to seize her undivided attention. This beloved woman represents the "reflector and guarantor of male identity. Hence, the male anxiety about the woman's independence for her liberty puts his masculine self-estimation at risk" (Maxwell 29). The jealous and controlling males in Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" possess a fervent desire to fix and monopolize their unconstrained female beloveds. Due to a fear of death, both speakers attempt to achieve control and deny object loss; by turning their lovers (once subjects) into objects, they ultimately attain the role of masterful subject.
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 first message in the poems that Robert Browning wrote is how jealous a guy got when someone else thought of their girl. Jealousy ruins a lot of relationship because their is no trust and with no trust it is not a healthy relationship. In the poem “My Last Duchess” there is this duke and he has this very beautiful wife. Well she is alway smiling at everything and it is not because of him so this guy who has a thousand year name gets jealous. Tells someone to “stop all smiles together”(Line 46) which that could mean a lot of things but
The narrator reveals a great deal about himself without any apparent intention of doing so. In both of these dramatic monologues, it appears that the speaker has murdered their mistress and is reflecting upon their actions while contemplating the image of their lover’s beautiful face. Both are selfish men who were jealous of their victims. The two speakers came from very different backgrounds, one a rich and powerful Duke, the other a low-born worker living in rural simplicity. Porphyria’s Lover is a love story told in the words of a simple man obsessed by his love for a woman of noble birth.
In “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” both deal with the love of a woman. The theme for both is power and how the speaker in both want to be in control over the woman. The imagery in “My Last Duchess” is based off what the Duke’s feel and what he shares with the servant. The imagery in “Porphyria’s Lover” is based on Porphyria’s. The tone in “My Last Duchess” is arrogant and ignorant because the Duke think so much of himself and foolishly shares all his flaws. The tone in Porphyria’s Lover” is rational the speaker makes sense of the murder of a woman he loves so much. Both poems displayed dramatic
The overarching irony in Browning's "My Last Duchess" is that it really is not about the duchess, but instead about the controlling, jealous, and arrogant nature of the duke. In his monologue describing a painting of his former wife, the duke introduces us to his dark and sinister qualities. By giving us the Duke of Ferrara as an example, Robert Browning subtly condemns the nobility for their poor character.
Robert Browning wrote the two poems, "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover. " Both poems convey a thoughtful, profound commentary on the concept of love. communicates two interpretations concerning Both poems describe the behavior of people who are in loving, romantic relationships. There are several aspects common to both poems. Using the literary technique of dramatic dialogue, the author reveals the plot and central idea of each poem.
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
...ll “And thus we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred”. This allows the reader entry into the lover’s state of mind - he is clearly insane. Consequently, some critics believe that "Porphyria's Lover" was inspired by a murder that was described in gory detail when published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1818 by John Wilson, which was eighteen years before Browning wrote this poem. The story, "Extracts from Gosschen's Diary," is about a murderer who stabs his lover to death and describes her blonde hair and blue eyes in doting detail. This not only outlines that women are only considered convenient if docile and attractive but also that writers, including female writers, “were regularly found to have succumbed to the lure of stereotypical representations”. For those reasons, the private and the public are intimately interlinked and not wholly separate.
Robert Browning, the poet, uses iambic pentameter throughout the poem. He breaks up the pattern so that every two lines rhyme. Aside from being a dramatic monologue, the poem is also considered lyric poetry because it is a poem that evokes emotion but does not tell a story. The poem is being told in the speaker's point-of-view about his first duchess, also as revealed in the title, The Last Duchess. The setting is important because the duke's attitude correlates to how men treated women at that time. The theme of the poem appears to be the duke's possessive love and his reflections on his life with the duchess, which ultimately brings about murder and his lack of conscience or remorse.
‘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 this poem “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert browning you see a man who seems perfectly normal turn into an insane man in a poem about murder. Porphyria comes to her lover to have a good night with her loved one, but in a horrible way she loses her life. With setting, irony and symbolism you see clearly how the superego was taken over by the id. Porphyria’s biggest weakness turns out to be her locks of “love.”
She says “writing can be an expression of one 's innermost feelings. It can allow the reader to tap into the deepest recesses of one 's heart and soul. It is indeed the gifted author that can cause the reader to cry at her words and feel hope within the same poem. Many authors as well, as ordinary people use writing as a way to release emotions.” She makes plenty points in her review that I completely agree with. After reading the poem I think that Elizabeth Barret Browning is not only the author of her famous poem, but also the speaker as well. She is a woman simply expressing her love for her husband in a passionate way through poetry. In the 1st Line it reads “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” A woman drunk in love she is, and next she begins to count the numerous ways she can love her significant
"Porphyria's Lover" is an exhilarating love story given from a lunatic's point of view. It is the story of a man who is so obsessed with Porphyria that he decides to keep her for himself. The only way he feels he can keep her, though, is by killing her. Robert Browning's poem depicts the separation of social classes and describes the "triumph" of one man over an unjust society. As is often the case in fiction, the speaker of "Porphyria's Lover" does not give accurate information in the story.
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