In Robert Browning ’s "My Last Duchess‚" a portrait of the egocentric and power loving Duke of Ferrara is painted for us. Although the duke ’s monologue appears on the surface to be about his late wife‚ a close reading will show that the mention of his last duchess is merely a side note in his self-important speech. Browning uses the dramatic monologue form very skillfully to show us the controlling‚ jealous‚ and arrogant traits the duke possessed without ever mentioning them explicitly. The
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My Last Duchess is an incredibly unique‚ but yet invidious poem. Who once ever knew that back in the old ages‚ people got jealous. Throughout the poem‚ individuals begin to realize the real issue with the Duke. Is the Duke jealous or just bipolar? The definition of bipolar disorder is an affective disorder characterized by periods of mania alternating with periods of depression‚ usually interspersed with relatively long intervals of normal mood . The definition of jealousy is mental uneasiness
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Katie Parham Dr. Rosenbaum ENGL 1050H 20 February 2012 Villain or Aesthete-Judgment or Sympathy The speaker can be seen as both a villain and lover of great art‚ but which is his true identity? In “My Last Duchess”‚ the duke’s deplorable wickedness makes the split between moral judgment and our actual feeling for him especially apparent. The effect created by the tension between sympathy and judgment is a striking characteristic of dramatic monologues. Throughout the poem‚ the Duke’s poise and
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‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘Things’ are both poems differing incredibly in length and structure‚ however they share and underlying sinister tone‚ conveyed by the eerie imagery both poets choose to write about. In Robert Browning’s poem‚ ‘My Last Duchess’‚ the first major source of imagery we encounter is the detail about the portrait of the Duchess on the wall‚ and the fictional author‚ Fra Pandolf. Boasting about the painting on the wall‚ the Duke adopts a cold and dispassionate tone when talking
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Magen Gable Professor Box English 2201-025 11 September 2016 “My Last Duchess” “My Last Duchess” written by Robert Browning is a compelling poem that exposes many different elements when analyzed closely. This is a dramatic monologue that demonstrates a very jealous man who wants complete control over his Duchess. In this poem‚ a Duke is showing a portrait of his first wife to a servant of his future father-in-law in his private art gallery. He keeps this portrait behind a curtain that only
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MY LAST DUCHESS: 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. Setting: the duke of Ferrara’s palace‚ upstairs in the gallery‚ 16th century setting‚ etc. Dramatic monologue‚ written in iambic pentameters‚ reads like blank verse in a drama/contains
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The famous "My Last Duchess"‚ the Duke of Earl always messenger introduction portrait of his late wife‚ in his conversation‚ we can understand the attitude of the Duke‚ Browning from the perspective of a third party to explain their feelings‚ so People and authors and readers evocative‚ poet monologue tone so that people imagine in the mind of a virtual audience‚ and let the reader from the characters theatrical monologue reasoning and imagination‚ try to figure out the author’s point of view. This
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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
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My Last Duchess 1. The speaker of the poem is the Duke of Ferrara who is indeed a very strict individual and demanding and always wants to be pleased. 2. He is speaking to the father of the woman that he wants to marry. The appropriate audience would be the family of the woman. 3. The word persona is applicable because it is interpreted in first person‚ Duke Ferrara’s perspective. 4. The dramatic situation is when the Duke is negotiating his art gallery in order for the father to agree on
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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
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