My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Introduction to Poetry Appreciation.
TAQ 2:
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. My Last Duchess was written in 1842, around this time the Industrial Revolution was booming, the British economy was thriving because of trade and Queen Victoria was ruler of Britain and all of her colonies. It was a truly glorious era of British History in terms of power and financial prosperity. However, it was also a time of poverty and repression, although the reigning monarch was female it was very much a patriarchal society. Because men had dominance in both the business world and home life this often (but not always) lead to maltreatment and abuse of women. The poem is a dramatical monologue of a conversation between the Duke and an emissary of the Count of Tyrol (his future wife’s father) the conversation is completely one-sided, we only hear the Duke's voice. This shows two things, firstly, from the outset that the Duke has complete control he is the authority. Secondly, because the author does not comment, it symbolises that the Duke's brutal behaviour is something the reader only knows about because the Duke has deigned to talk about it, in other words no one knows what goes on behind
TAQ 2:
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. My Last Duchess was written in 1842, around this time the Industrial Revolution was booming, the British economy was thriving because of trade and Queen Victoria was ruler of Britain and all of her colonies. It was a truly glorious era of British History in terms of power and financial prosperity. However, it was also a time of poverty and repression, although the reigning monarch was female it was very much a patriarchal society. Because men had dominance in both the business world and home life this often (but not always) lead to maltreatment and abuse of women. The poem is a dramatical monologue of a conversation between the Duke and an emissary of the Count of Tyrol (his future wife’s father) the conversation is completely one-sided, we only hear the Duke's voice. This shows two things, firstly, from the outset that the Duke has complete control he is the authority. Secondly, because the author does not comment, it symbolises that the Duke's brutal behaviour is something the reader only knows about because the Duke has deigned to talk about it, in other words no one knows what goes on behind