Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning both use a dramatic monologue as a poetical device to capture a reader’s attention and subvert the status quo of political notions that they rail against in order to achieve their ideals of race, gender, and class equality. However, their approach in utilizing dramatic monologue to achieve this goal is substantially different. The differences of tone and context of the dramatic monologue are vividly showcased in the contrast of Barrett’s “The Cry of the Children” and “Robert’s “My Last Duchess.”
In Robert’s “My Last Duchess,” the inner-workings of a “noble” man’s (hereafter called, “Ferrara”) mind sets the poem’s tone. The subversion of the reader happens through the framing of the narrative around
…show more content…
Additionally, she depicts this by saying, “young birds” and “young flowers” in stanza one as juxtaposed with stanza two’s “old tree” and this also induces sympathy for the children’s loss of childhood. This is a clever tactic that Barrett weaves into her poem because men have constantly tried to ascertain feelings and thoughts in comparison with nature. In addition, Barrett’s ability to turn this notion on its head and redirect the reader’s attention to real life tragedies works in quid pro quo fashion similar to Robert in “My Last Duchess,” i.e., if nature is free, then so must children be free. Additionally, Barrett’s poem is unique in form as well when contrasting these two particular poems. Robert’s poem is fairly straightforward, as it consists of twenty-eight couplets whereby he uses consonance to a degree as well as punctuation to indicate accented words. In Barrett’s poem, the rhyme scheme is significantly more complex than that of Robert’s. There are thirteen stanzas which all begin and end with a quatrain rhyme scheme with the anomaly in stanza twelve. In addition, Barrett’s em dashes, exclamations, enjambments, italics are all used to emphasize the words of her choosing. All of which are used in a vast amount and create a sense of power in the voice of the author, which further distinguishes her
The two poems that I am comparing are Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess, both early nineteenth century dramatic monologues by Robert Browning. Compare the three dramatic monologues you have studied on the way in which the characters reveal their true nature through what they say. The two poems that I am comparing are Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess, both early nineteenth century dramatic monologues by Robert Browning. A dramatic monologue is a poem in which only one person speaks, but the presence of another person is usually felt.
Furthermore, the opening “I stand” sets e assertive tone in the [poem. The speaker never falters in presenting the complexity of her situation, as a woman, a black [person], and a slave. The tone set at the beginning also aid the audience to recognize that the speaker in the “white man’s violent system” is divided by women, and black by whites. The slave employs metaphors, which Barrett use to dramatized imprisonment behind a dark skin in a world where God’s work of creating black people has been cast away. To further illustrate this she described the bird as “ little dark bird”, she also describes the frogs and streams as “ dark frogs” and “ dark stream ripple” Through the use of her diction she convey to readers that in the natural world unlike the human one, there is no dark with bad and light with good, and no discrimination between black and white people.
It goes on to speak about sympathy in general and how Browning “delighted in making a case for the apparently immoral position”, how he found dramatic monologues the best form to do so, and how he went about it. It keeps going for a couple more pages on things which I will not go into because they have little relevance to any interpretation of “My Last Duchess”.
Imagine a single spotlight focus solely on you as you say exactly what you feel. Everybody wants to get their point of view heard. One of the most effective ways for an individual to solely get their point across is a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. Dramatic monologue can also be known as a persona poem. Robert Browning was known for his dramatic monologues. “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” are two well-known poems by him. From these two poems I am going to compare the theme, use of imagery, and tone.
In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess," a portrait of the egocentric and power loving Duke of Ferrara is painted for us. Although the duke's monologue appears on the surface to be about his late wife, a close reading will show that the mention of his last duchess is merely a side note in his self-important speech. Browning uses the dramatic monologue form very skillfully to show us the controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits the duke possessed without ever mentioning them explicitly.
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.
Browning’s works were the primary model for the basic form of the standard Victorian dramatic monologue which was based around a speaker, listener, and a reader. Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” became a model for the dramatic monologue form primarily because of the strict approach he took while developing the poem. One of the aspects characteristic of this work is the authors level of consciousness. Each element in “My Last Duchess” is thoughtfully constructed with form and structure in mind. This poem is filled with dramatic principle that satisfied the Victorian period’s demand for an action and drama that were not overtly apparent in the work. In the case of “My Last Duchess” the drama of the poem is how his character, the Duke, is introduced. In dramatic monologues the character’s self is revealed through thoug...
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.
“Through the years detailed attention has been given to the lyric, epic, short-story, drama, novel, and other literary forms, but comparatively few references have been made to the dramatic monologue. ”(Sessions). A dramatic monologue is a poem where the speaker reveals parts of their character while making a speech or telling a narrative. Robert Browning, in his time, was considered a genius when it came to writing these dramatic monologues. Ruth Miller and Robert Greenburg both agree that,“ Robert Browning, writing in the mid-nineteenth century, was a master of the dramatic monologue and did much to develop its possibilities…”.
The Duke controls her narrative as much as he controlled every other aspect of her life. By using a dramatic monologue, Browning demands
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry has been the subject of much criticism. Her elusive style prompted many critics to question Barrett's method of writing. In fact, some critics, like Alethea Hayter, go so far as to propose that an "honest critique of her work must admit that she often wrote very bad poetry indeed" (15). Accusations against Barrett's work were often targeted at her tendency for anonymity, her excessive development of thoughts, unsuccessful forced rhymes, and more often than any other of her familiarities, her tendency to create her own words. Despite being relatively shunned by the world of poetry, Barrett persisted in writing poetry, even though the majority of her writing time just might have been spent on defending her work rather than writing it.
Browning uses irony in conjunction with dramatic monologue to produce a sinister and domineering effect. Irony, much like dramatic monologue, can make the reader question the true underlying meaning of the passage. This brief confusion causes an eeriness to be brought about in the work. In "My Last Duchess," verbal irony is demonstrated when the Duke says to his guests, "even had you skill in speech . . . which I have not"(35-36).
In his poem “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning uses character to show the reader how the duke’s twisted views cause him to lose the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. In the poem, the duke is speaking to one of the servants of the count. He unveils to the servant a portrait of his late wife, the former duchess. The duke begins to tell the tale of his wife’s life, and he recounts the events that lead up to her eventual demise.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning has a knack for relying on her emotions to fill her writing with meaning. She grasps her readers through fear, desperation, hope, and unaffected admiration. With her large emphasis on emotions expressed not only directly through her writing, but also withdrawn from her audience’s own hearts, Mrs. Browning’s work has found a permanent stance within the study of British Literature. However, this excruciating display of emotions can be considered both good and bad. Due to her focus on relationships of a more romantic side, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s seeming dependence on her love-interests throughout her sonnets may be part of the cause for the lack of independence within relationships in the generations of students
Consequently, from this poem, Browning is displaying to the audience that the mistakes among women and men was resulted by the formation of the Victorian culture. Although Victorian men take part in the suppression of the women’s equality movement Victorian women are not innocent for their own oppression. Women feel the need to please not only men but society as well and in result relinquish themselves and their individuality. Victorian men feel threatened if their own wife is smarter or as equally intelligent as they are and as a result demean their spouse so they can easily control them. The Duke had his wife murdered because she viewed him as an equal while he viewed himself as a god.