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.
The poem My Last Duchess by Robert Browning, shows that power has the ability to blind a person and cause them to wreak havoc when they feel threatened. The ultimate demise of his wife stemmed from perceived lack of control that he had over his wife, that caused him to kill her. Throughout Browning's poem he uses vivid imagery to connect with the reader, diction to help create a purpose for the poem, and dramatic irony. Browning use of imagery in the poem helped us get a better understanding of what the duke was actually like.
“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
Even though the woman in these dramatic monologues are polar opposites, the men show many similarities. Both male figures have a strong need for control, an aspect of the monologues that was intentional by Browning. In My Last Duchess, the duke responds to his wife's happiness in very negative way saying, “But thanked somehow - I know not how - as if she ranked my gift of nine-hundred-year-old name with anybody's gift.” (Lines 31-34) He believes that because he gave her the gift of his well respected name and wealth that he should be the only thing that makes her happy.
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.
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 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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “Fra Lippo Lippi” we as the readers are presented with a lot of background information about the speaker itself. This monologue overall subjects a monk/painter of Renaissance Italy. I find this monologue very interesting because of the fact that Browning uses sarcasm and witty personality in his favor at the beginning of the poem. The trait of the authorities being overzealous in the monk’s eyes is what charms the beginning first half of the monologue. For this writing assignment, I will analyze specific lines of 1-60; I believe the monk reveals a lot about himself as a character in the very first half of the poem which is why I find this of significance. While analyzing these specific lines, I will also describe how these lines help us as readers better understand this character in question.
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