Sonnet 14: In lines I and 2 of "Sonnet 14"‚ Elizabeth Barrett Browning says she wants only to be loved for "love’s sake". The next four lines describe all the things she does not want to be loved for – “Do not say ’I love her for her smile—her look—her way of speaking gently”‚. She tells us in lines 7 through 9‚ that she does not want to be loved for these reasons because they are changeable (with age)‚ unreliable and superficial whereas real love should be everlasting. In lines 10 through 12‚ she
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Possibly because his wife would not give him her full adoration. When Browning (1842) states “she thank[s] men… as if she rank[s] my gift of a nine-hundred-year’s-old name with anybody’s gift… she smile[s]‚ no doubt… but who passe[s] without much of the same smile”(ll. 30-31‚ 43-45) he shines a light on how the duke’s insecurities
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represents love to be eternal. Love has a highly religious motive in Browning’s Sonnets and also that love is transformative. Elizabeth browning wants to be loved for who she is and nothing else. In sonnet fourteen she states “If thou must love me‚ let it be for nought‚ except for love’s sake only. Her poetry can be reflected as a prayer like quality in sonnet 14‚ browning says “I love thee freely‚ I love thee purely‚ I love thee.” The high modality anaphora enhances the religious imagery and the idea
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English 2323 - Study Questions “My Last Duchess” – Robert Browning 1. What is the setting for this poem? This poem takes place in the palace of Alfonso II who is the Duke of Ferrara in Italy. 2. Who is the Duke speaking to? The Duke is entertaining an ambassador type person who has come to arrange the marriage of the duke and a daughter of a very wealthy and powerful family. What are they both looking at? They are looking at a painting of the Duke’s last “duchess” or wife that
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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
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Robert Browning is known as the Master of Psychological dramatic monologue. In "My last Duchess" the reader only hears the Duke’s story whose perverse point of view throws false accusations towards his recently deceased wife. What the reader knows about the characters is limited‚ so he must piece together the story on his own. The story the duke thinks he tells‚ of an unfaithful wife who offended his dignity‚ and the story he really tells‚ of jealousy and possessive love that leads to murder‚ engages
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Robert Browning was an English poet whose mastery of dramatic verse‚ especially dramatic monologues‚ made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. “My Last Duchess” is one of his best known dramatic monologues in which the speaker reveals his character to a silent listener. This poem is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso‚ the Duke of Ferrara‚ who lived in the 16th century. The Duke is the speaker of the poem. He tells us he is entertaining a representative who has come to settle
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6th 1806 - june 29th 1861) also known as Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett was one of the most distinguished and influential English writers of the Victorian era‚ popular in the United States and Britain throughout her lifetime. The eldest of twelve children‚ being born to wealthy plantation owner Edward Moulton-Barrett (1785-1857) and his wife Mary née Graham (1781-1828) gave mrs.Browning a privileged childhood allowing her to experience the highest education a
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a highly accomplished poet‚ and this in a time period in which heavy sexism made it almost impossible to do so. Browning was truly an eloquent writer‚ and in her 1857 letter to Napoleon III‚ tried to persuade him to pardon the recently exiled Victor Hugo. While Browning never actually mailed the letter‚ she takes a variety of standpoints during it‚ although‚ a reserved yet mocking tone remains throughout. Browning acknowledges sexism and panders to Napoleon so that
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Browning used repetition in her poem The Cry of the Children to show the pain‚ and suffering that children had to go through as they were forced to work. She was in distraught about the sad faces of the children who were forced to work in mines and factories‚ and decided to make a political point by writing The Cry of the Children against the enslavement of children. She uses repetition to get the thoughts in the mind of the reader to point out the signs in order to stop the enslavement of children
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