Preview

My Last Duchess

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
515 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
My Last Duchess
"My Last Duchess" is one of the most understood sonnets composed by Robert Browning. Browning is still recalled today because of the dramatic monologue of "My Last Duchess". The setting of the lyric is the living arrangement of Duke of Ferrara. The "Duke" is the speaker/storyteller in this sonnet, it's a discussion between the duke and a hireling of the Count. The fundamental graceful gadgets in this lyric is: imagery, representation, and similar sounding word usage.

In this sonnet imagery was the main scholarly gadget that got my consideration. For instance, "However to myself they turned (since none puts by/The drapery I have drawn for you, yet I) (9-10)". The drapery was the Duke method for concealing his deficiencies; additionally, the youthful wife was a minor ownership and now her work of art is his last proprietorship, for no one but he can close the window ornament. Notwithstanding that, there was imagery between the Duke and the Neptune model. "Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, however,/Taming an ocean horse, thought an irregularity,/Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me! (54-56)", which likewise symbolize him …show more content…
Subsequently, the becoming flushed "spot of euphoria" is a similitude for coy conduct. "Sir, 'twas not/Her spouse's vicinity just, called that spot/Of bliss into the Duchess' cheek; (13-15)". Notwithstanding that, the work of art itself is, "by configuration," the Duke's origination of his late wife; In the lyric, he gripes that she didn't save her grins only for him. He is desirous that she would give the same benevolence to other men, "Gracious sir, she grinned, most likely,/Whene'er I passed her; yet who went without/Much the same grin?
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    write about the way browning tells the story- My Last Duchess
    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages

    write about the way browning tells the story- My Last Duchess

    Immediately Browning titles the story with a hint that suggests the story will describe ownership of one of many Duchess'. It also suggests through the name 'Duchess' that it is coming from a royal background rather than simply saying 'woman' or 'wife'. The story is about a Duke who decides to remove his wife from his life out of paranoia and jealousy, by murdering her. Browning is the writer and the listener, the Duke is the speaker and the story is told in a dramatic monologe. Another device I noticed is that Browning uses enjambment, this gives the poem rhythm and flow.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Last Duchess Cask of Amontillado rewrite
    • 902 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Last Duchess Cask of Amontillado rewrite

    The Duke portrays his former wife as a having a “spot of joy” (21) that appears in her cheek, an unintentional indication of the Duchess’s delight, in other people and nature. The Duke considers her blushing as a form of corrupted nature. Browning uses a collection of images that…

    • 902 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How does Shakespeare present the flaws

    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How does Shakespeare present the flaws

    My last duchess is a dramatic monologue where you explore the character of the Duke and his late wife. In the monologue you start to acknowledge the fact that perhaps the Duke himself has murdered his own wife because he was jealous. The title of the monologue is called ‘My…

    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison of My Last Duchess and the Laboratory
    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparison of My Last Duchess and the Laboratory

    ‘My last duchess, the poem is set during the 19th century. The speaker who is the Duke of Ferrara is giving the tour of his prospective second wife a tour of the artworks in his home. He draws a curtain to reveal a painting of a woman, explaining that it is a portrait of his late wife; he invites his guest to sit and look at the painting. As they look at the portrait of the Duchess, the Duke describes her happy, cheerful and flirtatious nature, which had displeased him. He says, "She had a heart or how shall I say? Too soon made glad" He goes on to say that his complaint of her was that not only her husband's presence was that made her happy. Eventually, "I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together." He now keeps her painting hidden behind a curtain that only he is allowed to draw back, meaning that now she only smiles for him…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Robert Browning's My Last Duchess
    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis of Robert Browning's My Last Duchess

    Our world is changing and evolving at an astounding rate. Within the last 200 years, we have seen two World Wars and countless disputes over false borders created by colonialists, slavery, and every horrid form of human suffering imaginable!! Human lifestyles and cultures are changing every minute. While our grandparents and ancestors were growing up, do you ever think they imagined the world we live in today? What is to come is almost inconceivable to us now. In this world, the only thing we can be sure of is that things will change. With all of these transformations occurring, it is a wonder that a great poet like Robert Browning may write words so many years ago, that are still relevant to you and I in today's modern society. Browning’s first dramatic monologue “My last duchess” was written during the Italian Renaissance when egotism, marriage and aristocracy influenced the society.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare the ways that authors present the speakers in their poems
    • 768 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Compare the ways that authors present the speakers in their poems

    Both of the writers have made their speakers very proud of things in their life, the duke in My Last Duchess is very proud of his 900 year old name he has given her and all his power and riches. But he is also very viscous in the poem and seems to not care about women as he treats them like objects in the time of patriarchal society “My Last Duchess” and “is my object”.…

    • 768 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Last Duchess
    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My Last Duchess

    In the poem My Last Duchess, a large variation of feelings and emotions are expressed. They are expressed using various techniques, such as alliteration, rhetorical questions and many more. I am going to explain how feelings are expressed in parts of the poem and also what is shown and revealed by the Duke in My Last Duchess.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Friar Pandolf's Poem 'My Last Duchess'
    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Friar Pandolf's Poem 'My Last Duchess'

    The poem’s expressive purpose is to explain to the Count’s servant why he, the Duke, doesn’t have a Duchess anymore. The first line of the poem, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive,” hints of the last Duchess’s death and the rest of the poem elaborates on the complete story of the last Duchess. Throughout the poem, we discover that the main reason for the last Duchess’s disappearance was because the Duke felt threatened by her friendly nature towards everything, especially towards men. Her behavior can be best seen in the quote, “all and each would draw from her alike the approving speech, or blush, at least. She thanked men, - good! But thanked.” Therefore we can conclude that last Duchess disappeared, or died, because she didn’t make the Duke feel like he was the only man in the world. By the end of the poem we witness the Duke already asking for the hand of the Count’s daughter to replace his empty space for a Duchess.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Browning Use Repetition In My Last Duchess
    • 161 Words
    • 1 Page

    How Does Browning Use Repetition In My Last Duchess

    In Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, the author uses literary devices to describe the relationship between the Duke and his Duchess. Browning uses repetition throughout the poem. The word, “I”, is repeated throughout the poem to depict the Duke’s self-centered attribute towards his Duchess and others around him. Secondly, the diction in the poem indicates an abusive relationship between the Duke and his Duchess. After becoming jealous of every smile the Duchess gives, the Duke “gave commands” to the Duchess and caused all the smiles to stop (Browning 45).…

    • 161 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Another Domineering Husband In 'My Last Duchess' By Robert Browning
    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Another Domineering Husband In 'My Last Duchess' By Robert Browning

    “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue that combines elements of both horror and romance about the Duke of Ferrara who is speaking to the envoy of a count from a neighboring court, giving him a tour of the castle and its treasures. Although this poem is spoken by one person, it is very specifically addressed to someone else. There are at least two points of view inscribed into the poem: the speaker’s and the addressee’s. This is discovered in the course of reading the poem through moments of recognition and confrontation. Through his speech, the speaker unintentionally reveals his own personality. The reader finds the duke is self-centered, arrogant, controlling, and very jealous. The…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Last Duchess Essay
    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My Last Duchess Essay

    Through “My Last Duchess”, Browning exposes the innermost characteristics of the Duke of Ferrara. The Duke is the speaker of the poem and is hashing out the details of another marriage with an emissary from a Count when he draws a curtain to reveal a magnificent fresco of the Duke’s Last Duchess. The emissary voices a question about the expression on her face, an “earnest glance” of “depth and passion” (line 8), prompting the Duke’s monologue. Looking upon the artwork, the Duke praises “Fra Pandolf’s hands” which worked “busily a day” (lines 3-4) to create the masterpiece. Then he tells the emissary, every stranger whom he honors with showing the painting “seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, / how such a glance came there” (lines 11-12).…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Last Duchess
    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My Last Duchess

    The poetic voice in Robert Browning’s ‘My last Duchess’ is Alfonso II D’Este. The speaker is presented as rich Duke who is very full of himself “My nine hundred year old name.” Throughout the poem the speaker is trying convince the Count of Tyrell that he is a worthy person to marry his daughter.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
    • 944 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

    My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is based upon Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara's marriage to Lucrezia de' Medici and her death at his hands. Although it has never been proven that the Duke orchestrated her death, she did die suspiciously at the young age of seventeen after only a year of being married to the Duke. At first glance the reader only sees this story but upon reading the poem in more depth and looking at what the form and language devices tell us, we can observe a much more deeper meaning. There is a second story to this poem an underlying message that the poet sends to raise awareness to a social issue that was widespread but was never addressed and in some cases thought of as normal or even worse acceptable. This poem is a metaphor in itself of the oppression of women and domestic violence in the Victorian Era.…

    • 944 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Last Duchess Essay
    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Last Duchess Essay

    Robert Brownings poem My Last Duchess, is a great poem about a very colorful character and his trials with jealously, control, and marriage. Throughout the poem the reader is able to gather that it is about a Duke who is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Dukes next marriage. As the Duke is entertaining the emissary, the he takes the opportunity to show a portrait of his late wife, or as the poem titles says his last duchess. The Duke upon showing the portrait, almost immediately begins to reminisce about her, and the reader begins to find that maybe the Duchess didn’t get such a happily ever after with the Duke. That being said, the poem is much more then just a story of a Duke reminiscing about his last duchess to a visitor, but a cautionary tale of what happens when someone (in this case the Duke) fails to control their jealousy.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    My Last Duchess Notes
    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My Last Duchess Notes

    Narrative perspective/voices: first person narrator, aristocrat, superior and detached, clear sense of the addressee who the duke thinks is inferior, the Duke talks about the duchess but never quotes her words, the duke a performer who mimics the voices of others, chilling sinister tone, etc.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics