Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess” is a poem that is being narrated from the point of view of a Duke in rhyming pentameter, each line does not stop unless the sentence he is speaking ends and rather flows into the next. He is speaking of “his duchess on the wall…” When the poem begins he is lamenting on his Duchess and her beauty and is reliving the day(s) in which the portrait of her was painted. He is speaking of her with love, but the poem quickly takes a chilling twist as he reveals that she was a flirt and after the revelation the reader becomes aware of the fact that the Duke was the cause of her death. The reader is not certain that the Duke can be trusted concerning the Duchesses alleged wrongdoings, but it is certain that the …show more content…
Lines 25-30 is lamenting how she flirted and what those with whom she flirted bestowed upon her. If the Duchess spoke or smiled to anyone then she was flirting with them. Lines 30-35 are much the same as the previous lines. The Duke is listing her “indiscretions”. Her “approving speech, Or blush…” “She thanked men—good!” these are all instances in which the Duke believes that she is flirting, but the reader begins to question if this is even true, they seem to be but polite gestures. In these lines he also talks about his “nine-hundred-years-old name”, he is disgusted that she does not appreciate everything his name is more than to drag it through the mud with her “flirting”. In lines 35-40 the Duke is still ranting. He is ranting about how disgusted he was/is with her. In lines 40-45 the reader really begins to understand how the Duchess was “lessoned” because she had “stooped” below his level flirting which made her beneath him and he would never “stoop”. In lines 45-46 he begins by talking about her bestowing him still with her smile, but she smiles at everyone so it made no difference. But because the smile was not only his the “smiles stopped together”. The Duchess is dead and now her smile lives only in this portrait. This is the end of the talk about the
The speakers in these two poems both have issues with the people they have been with. In the poem “My Last Duchess,” the speaker, the Duke of Ferrara, is complaining about his last wife and how he
... “the Appearance of a Gentleman” (236). She then baits him with a story, insisting that he “cannot, when you hear my Story, refuse that Assistance which is in your Power to give an unhappy Woman, who without it, may be rendered the most miserable of all created Beings” (236). Furthermore, the reason Beauplaisir concludes that the Widow Bloomer will be sexually responsive is her description of her previous marriage: “From that she passed to a Description of the Happiness of mutual Affection; —the unspeakable Ecstasy of those who meet with equal Ardency; and represented it in Colours so lively, and disclosed by the Gestures with which her Words were accompanied, and the Accent of her Voice so true a Feeling of what she said” (237). By distracting Beauplaisir with his own visual appearance, the Widow Bloomer supersedes his masculine power through her own auditory power.
Margaret is Mr. Macomber’s wife who is exceedingly dramatic and finds joy in putting others down, but toward the end of the story she has a shift and gains fear. Margaret says, “I suppose I could,” she said, “since you put it so pretty”. In this example, Margaret is shown to be dramatic and flirty. A reader can see that she is dramatic and flirty because she flirts with Wilson by talking about how he talks “so prettily”. This shows that she is disloyal to her husband and doesn’t care how he feels.
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is story of a duke recanting his story about his late wife. In this poem the author uses diction similar to conversational words as if he was speaking to someone or something, varied syntax, where he questions to engage the reader, and a vain and superficial tone where he places the value of his late wife to some simple bronze.
In Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, the speaker whom we discover to be the Duke and husband of the Duchess in question is an arrogant aristocrat. At first glance, it may seem that he is a grieving husband who is proud to show the portrait of his last wife, but the more that you hear him speak, the more his true personality is demonstrated. He is critical of his late wife and wants to ensure that his visitor understands that she was unworthy to be his Duchess.
At the start, the first stanza of the poem is full of flattery. This is the appeal to pathos. The speaker is using the mistress's emotions and vanity to gain her attention. By complimenting her on her beauty and the kind of love she deserves, he's getting her attention. In this first stanza, the speaker claims to agree with the mistress - he says he knows waiting for love provides the best relationships. It feels quasi-Rogerian, as the man is giving credit to the woman's claim, he's trying to see her point of view, he's seemingly compliant. He appears to know what she wants and how she should be loved. This is the appeal to ethos. The speaker seems to understand how relationships work, how much time they can take, and the effort that should be put forth. The woman, if only reading stanza one, would think her and the speaker are in total agreement.
Robert Browning is the author of "My Last Duchess" and he shows the audience how it is a dramatic monologue. In a class lecture, the professor had mentioned that the poem is set in the 15th century. During that time, it was common for a young woman to be arranged in a marriage. As the poem unfolds, the audience learns the speaker of the poem, Duke Ferrara, is talking to another male character and begins to tell the story of his previous wife. As they are standing in front of the portrait of the Duke's last wife, now dead, the Duke talks about her imperfections.
it suggests the female he is addressing is not physically attractive and that despite this he loves her. In order to convey this idea he uses trope like language used in love poems and suggests the his “mistress” is not this, shown in the first line and throughout (quote and analyse). this creates the idea that the she is human and not the idealistic beauty as set out out in daniels poem. This humanising element to Shakespeare's poem contradicts the theory of Debeauvoir which suggests women to be other (quote). Also, the nature of the poem confuses her idea that to men there is the good and bad woman this is because this poem is suggested to be aimed at shakespeares dark lady and at first glance you may assume that this means she would fall into the trope of the bad women. However the love the reader feels for the women is deep and true, going beyond physical appearance and this links closer to the trope of the good women. This suggests that the idea of the good and bad women is not as clear cut and Shakespeare plays with this idea. Through his description he paints an almost revolting image of the female, an example of this being "If her hair be wires, black wires grow on her head." This clever simile creates the impression that she is unkempt and we get almost hag like connotations from this description. Also in lines 7 and 8 "And in some perfumes is there more delight/Than in her breath that
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.
As all Cavalier poets, he supports the statement of "carpe diem", or "seize the day", that is an extension to the Renaissance code of chivalry. Today, the speaker's speech may seem sexist in its attitude toward women and irresponsible in its attitude toward the coy mistress (the speaker doesn't explain how he would seize the day if the woman became pregnant, for example). The mistress would like to postpone sex (theoretically until she and the speaker are married). The speaker wants to consummate their physical relationship. The poem's speaker is attempting to persuade "His Coy Mistress" to have sex with him.
Is this dominant male’s intention toward the mistress out of love or lust? What the narrator does clearly portray to the audience is that this is a straight forward poem. The male says that, if immortal, he would with pleasure spend all the time on heavens and earth wooing his mistress. But, time is not immortal and nor are they, that he suggest she willingly give herself to him and fulfill his seize the day urgency (531). Using clever literary devices and enchanting imagery the scene is set for him to go forth with his seduction.
‘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.
The structure in “My Last Duchess” is iambic pentameter which reflects upon the duke’s controlling nature. In each line, there are exactly ten syllables. one stanza, rhyming couplets.
Gossip can cause people’s opinions of other people to change, whether the gossip is true or not. This is present and seen within the play. In Lady Windermere’s Fan the role of gossip transforms Lady Windermere’s loyalty to her husband into misplaced revenge. As the play goes on, there are various ways that gossip and status are used throughout the acts. To begin the first act the Duchess of Berwick tells Lady Windermere that her husband has had an affair.
The Duke does not think that such things, which are trivial to him, should bring her the same amount of joy as the presents he bestows on her. He is also mildly jealous of the way that other things can make his wife happy. He thinks that she should love him and him alone. This is particularly shown when he refers to someone else.