Although they are famous works by two different famous poets‚ "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning and "Ulysses" by Alfred Lord Tennyson share many similarities. Both poems are examples of dramatic monologues‚ in that they consist entirely of the speech of the main character. As a result they both have very few stanzas. "My Last Duchess" is set in Italy during the Renaissance period. In this poem the Duke is talking to his prospective father-in-law’s servant about a painting of his former wife. Ulysses
Premium Poetry Renaissance Dramatic monologue
Murder... mystery... intrigue... All describe Robert Browning’s poem‚ "My Last Duchess." From the speakers’s indirect allusions to the death of his wife the reader might easily think that the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. His flowery speech confuses and disguises any possible motives‚ however‚ and the mystery is left unsolved. Based on the poem’s style‚ structure‚ and historical references‚ it becomes evident that even if the speaker did not directly kill his
Premium My Last Duchess Robert Browning Poetry
Throughout the story‚ “My Last Duchess” by Margaret Atwood‚ there exists vast dissimilarities between stereotypical women and women opposing stereotypes‚ and society. These dissimilarities are shown evidently through the characters. Margaret Atwood uses her characters to supply detailed examples of individuals who embody these stereotypes‚ those who do not‚ and the conflicting tones she uses in regards to these characters display her feminist ideals. A few of the characters representing stereotypical
Premium Gender Woman Gender role
’Men are presented as monsters in Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess.’ Discuss. A monster is defined as something which inspires horror and disgust and is shockingly hideous or frightful. The characters of both males in ’Porphyria’s Lover’ and ’My Last Duchess’ definitely give the impression of fitting this description‚ as they both commit‚ or at least command the committing of murders. They are also controlling of the women in their lives and crave power over them – in both cases‚ the woman
Premium Unreliable narrator Narrative mode Narrator
Compare Last and Lover The story of “My Last Duchess” is a sad story about a man who is about to meet his new wife. He is talking to the man who represents the family he is taking this wife from and he decides to tell the representative about his last duchess which died. The story does not tell how she dies only that she is dead‚ and that her husband believed she smiled too much. The story of “Porphyria’s Lover” is about a woman(Porphyria) who walks in on her lover. She adds wood to the fire‚ puts
Premium Marriage Death Family
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
Premium Dramatic monologue My Last Duchess 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
Premium Victorian literature Poetry Victorian era
"My Last Duchess" Robert Browning’s poem "My Last Duchess" is a splendid poem achieve within the format of the dramatic monologue‚ a poetic form in which there is only one speaker. Because there is only one speaker‚ we the reader must wonder carefully what the Duke is telling us‚ and we often have to read between the lines in order to keep an objective perspective on the what is happening in the poem. This paper will discuss how the use of the dramatic monologue makes the subject (the Duke) tell
Free Robert Browning My Last Duchess Dramatic monologue
In this essay‚ I would like to discuss one of Robert Browning’s better known poems‚ "My Last Duchess." While some readers may be put off by Browning’s language which now seems archaic‚ his poem is every bit as relevant today as when he wrote it almost two hundred years ago. It is as relevant in the twenty first century as it was in the sixteenth century which serves as the setting for the poet’s history lesson. The poem focuses on a sixteenth century Italian duke who is regaling his guest with tales
Free Robert Browning My Last Duchess Duke
women. Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess really help to convey the idea that women had no power no matter what social class they were in. Likewise women were objectified under the harsh rules of the society in the Victorian Era. He proves his point even further by both poems ending with the woman dying because of their sexuality. Robert Browning helps you comprehend the plight of women by having Porphyria in a much superior social class than her lover and The Duchess marrying a man of the same social
Premium Robert Browning My Last Duchess Dramatic monologue