Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The portrayal of women in 19th century literature
Conclusion of my last duchess by robert browning
Misogyny literature essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The portrayal of women in 19th century literature
Professor Papica
English 1B
4 April 2014
Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess:
Pretentious Killer
The poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is not as mournful and heartbreaking as the title suggests. In fact, the poem is extremely dramatic and disrespectful towards women, making them seem as if women were dumb foolish objects. Many have wondered about the disposable aspects of women in the 1840’s, and the objective view men had towards them at the time. Browning’s poem portrays the idea of men’s misogynistic views towards women in the 1840’s. At the time when the poem takes place in the 1500’s it was considered the norm to see women as lesser beings .This idea of irrational male dominance in a relationship is also portrayed in the poem “My Last Duchess”, through the inexplicable and irrational actions of the Duke (the speaker of the poem). The Duke is a disrespectful, pretentious, evil man that has the power to dispose of whomever he wishes and the ability to attract and obtain anything and anyone he wants. The Duke is portrayed as a rich, lavish individual with expensive tastes and is known to be a very mysterious and cold hearted man, getting rid of any imperfections towards his self-image. He justifies his actions against his Duchess as reasonable because he claims she did not meet the proper criteria for the prestigious position of being his wife. The narrator sets a questionable, mystery filled mood with all his remarks that suggest he is unpleased with his women and the dark alluding actions he took to address them. Throughout the text he conveys himself as a very prestigi...
... middle of paper ...
...ic views men had towards women in the past by showing how little she meant in their relationship and how easily and merciless he disposed of her without a trace. Unfortunately, however the speaker also show signs of disrespect in his person demonstrating he was terrible person. An example of his rude manner is in the way he addressed to people in the most degrading manner he could think of. He does not have a specific group that he mistreats. For him it does not matter if they are peasants or noblemen he will still address to them as lesser beings. This all proves that the Duke in fact is a terrible person he has no respect for anyone not even his wife. Throughout the end of the story the audience realizes how misogynistic and pretentious the speaker truly is by noticing how he mistreats others and by taking to notice the murderous act he committed against his wife.
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.
...and mistrust. He is grateful for his mother, but plans to have no other women in his life. Like Beatrice, by insulting the female gender, he is proclaiming the male gender as supreme.
Have you ever fallen in love? Have you ever developed strong feelings for another? If problems arose between the two of you, were you able to overcome them? Well certain men in Robert Browning’s works couldn’t seem to. . . “overcome” these differences with their women. Browning grew up learning from his father’s huge library. His wife was much more successful at writing than him. Eight years after her death, his career turned around for the last 20 years of his life. During this time, he wrote many short dramatic monologues such as My Last Duchess and Prophyria’s Lover. These two very intriguing and disturbing Monologues, My Last Duchess and Prophyria’s Lover, by Robert Browning, involve two very messed up men whose actions are both alike in their idea of immortalizing their woman, but different in why they chose to commit the act between the two stories, and a conclusion may be drawn from this observation.
The purpose of this essay is to analyze and compare and contrast the two paired poems “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning and “My Ex-Husband” by Gabriel Spera to find the similarities presented within the pairs. Despite the monumental time difference between “My Last Duchess” and “My Ex-Husband”, throughout both poems you will see that somebody is wronged by someone they thought was a respectable person and this all comes about by viewing a painting on the wall or picture on a shelf.
Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a haunting poem that tells the story of a seemingly perfect wife who dies, and then is immortalized in a picture by her kind and loving husband. This seems to be the perfect family that a tragic accident has destroyed. Upon further investigation and dissection of the poem, we discover the imperfections and this perfect “dream family” is shown for what it really was, a relationship without trust.
over his wife as he refers to her as a belonging; it also shows that
may not be all that he claims to be- the use of the word ‘My’ is very
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.
At the start of the play, the court lacks respect for the fellow man, for example, Duke Oliver, calls one of his faithful servants an “old dog,” inquiring that his servant is nothing but an old warn out servant. The court seems to be filled with hostility and maliciousness, for example, when Orlando won the wrestling match against Charles, he was denied the usual honor that the court gives to the winner but because Orlando’s deceased father used to be an enemy to one of the dukes who at the time was watching the fight, decided not to honor Orlando’s win because of an old grudge against his deceased father. The Duke, Frederick, saying, “I would thou hadst been son to some man else. The world esteemed thy father honorable, But I did find him still mine enemy. Thou shouldst have better pleased me with this deed Hadst thou descended from another house. Bu...
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
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.
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.
Webster based his play on a real-life 16th Century scandal where a widowed Duchess remarried for love and did so beneath her class. The widowed Duchess had certain advantages and freedoms that the younger and unmarried Beatrice in The Changeling did not. The Duchess had significant wealth and independence, and she need not answer to a father or a husband. She no longer had the burden of protecting her virginity and the stigma attached if it was lost. Beatrice, on the other hand, had little sexual freedom, and she had to answer to her father and to the man to whom she was engaged. However a the Duchess, and Beatrice were doomed to subject to a patriarchal and male-dominated society. Upon her capture the Duchess declares: “I am Duchess of Malfi still” (4.2.141). She is a duchess only in name. In the end in both tragedies, it is the men –fathers, brothers, suitors, and the Church—who rule by physical force and by law.
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