The Theme of Love in First Love, My Last Duchess and Remember

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The Theme of Love in First Love, My Last Duchess and Remember

'First love', 'My Last Duchess' and 'Remember' all share the theme

'loss of love' which is presented in many different ways. These poems

are known to be some of the best love poems of their time, written

over a hundred years ago. 'Remember' and 'My Last Duchess,' deal with

death as a result of the relationship. The poems are all presented in

the first person, which portrays a more dramatic mood as we emphasise

with the subject. They are all told/written in a male's point of view,

this is interesting because society only expects women to express

their emotions towards love. 'Remember' which is written in a female's

point of view bring realism to the poem and to the mood of the poem

because we expect women to express their feelings about love.

'First love' was written about a person who the speaker falls in love

with as soon as eyes were laid on her. In contrast to 'My Last

Duchess' where the lord is showing material items off and is informing

a messenger that he murdered his last duchess out of jealousy and

spite. Yet in remember the female voice is just talking about when she

has passed away it is better to forget her and be happy, than to

remember her and be sad. 'My Last Duchess' and 'Remember' are about

single feelings throughout the poem as appose to 'First love' where

the voice has a mixed proportion or emotions, for example at the

beginning he loves the woman and he is happy, but by the end he feels

extremely heart broken.

In all three poems the relationship between the poets and their lovers

are very similar. In 'My Last Duchess' the relationship between the

...

... middle of paper ...

... in 'Remember' uses simple

yet dignified language, and there are a lot of deep heavy sounding

words.

"Hand," "planned" and "understand"

These words add to the sombre tone. 'Remember is a 14 line sonnet

which appeals to an older audience because the subject of death is

more intriguing. 'My Last Duchess' this poem is a dramatic monologue

which consists of rhyming couplets portraying a more sad yet

interesting poem. It is written in rhythmic couplets which help to

convey the idea of the duke's smugness.

Overall, the poems are all expressed in a very emotional and detailed

way. They all prove that loss of love is presented in a very direct

and appealing way; this has been shown in the way that the poets

composed their poems all in the first person, making them very

descriptive and using a lot of dramatic imagery.

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