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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"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
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Question : What is a dramatic monologue? Which of the two‚ in your opinion‚ is the stronger dramatic monologue in Tennyson’s “Ulysses” or Browning’s “My Last Duchess”? Answer : Traditionally dramatic monologue is a lyrical poem in the form of speech spoken by a single man. It is dramatic because it begins abruptly and in the development of its thought it takes several sudden turns which impart dramatic dimension to the poem. In a dramatic monologue the single speaker reveals his thoughts in the
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Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ as a Dramatic Monologue A Dramatic monologue is a form of poetry where the speaker in the poem gives the readers a deep insight into his thoughts. It is different from a soliloquy since a dramatic monologue always has an implied audience. Dramatic monologue although originated well before the 19th century‚ it was popularized by Victorian poets like Browning‚ Tennyson and Dante Rossetti. Browning has experimented with this form of poetry to such depths that dramatic monologue
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"My Last Duchess" is a poem by Robert Browning‚ frequently anthologized as an example of the dramatic monologue. It first appeared in 1842 in Browning’s Dramatic Lyrics. The poem is set during the late Italian Renaissance. The speaker (presumably the Duke of Ferrara) is giving the emissary of his prospective new wife (presumably a third or fourth since he Browning could have easily written ’second’ but did not do so) a tour of the artworks in his home. He draws a curtain to reveal a painting of
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Setting and Background The setting of "My Last Duchess‚" a highly acclaimed 1842 poem by Robert Browning‚ is the palace of the Duke of Ferrara on a day in October 1564. Ferrara is in northern Italy‚ between Bologna and Padua‚ on a branch of the Po River. The city was the seat of an important principality ruled by the House of Este from 1208 to 1598. The Este family constructed an imposing castle in Ferrara beginning in 1385 and‚ over the years‚ made Ferrara an important center of arts and learning
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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. This poem is a dramatic monologue because the only speaker in the poem is Alfonso. Browning uses Iambic Pentameter as the metre to create a sense of natural speech; this makes the poem avoid sounding
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My Last Duchess: An Analysis of The Duke "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning is clearly a dramatic monologue used to depict the character of the Duke. The agent seems present although he never participates in the conversation and all parts are spoken by the Duke. The Duke describes some of the agent’s questions and makes the dramatic monologue possible by answering‚ for example‚ the questioning glance he gets from the agent about the "spot of joy on the duchess’ cheek". The poem presents the
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How does Browning tell the story of “My Last Duchess” in the first thirteen lines? In the opening lines of “My Last Duchess”‚ Browning introduces his speaker‚ the Duke of Ferrara‚ who sets the stage to tell the story of his late wife to the Count’s emissary. As a dramatic monologue‚ Browning’s identity is dissolved into his character’s voice and persona; the first-person narration of the Duke dominates the perspective of the story; the emissary becomes a silent listener‚ whose presence is only
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I. Author ROBERT BROWNING Robert Browning is the author of the poem “my last duchess”. He is a son of Robert Browning‚ a Bank of England clerk‚ and Sarah Anna Wiedemann‚ of Scottish-German descent‚ Browning received little formal education. His learning was gleaned mainly from his Father’s library at home in Camberwell‚ South London‚ where he learnt something‚ with his Father’s help‚ of Latin and Greek. Though he attended lectures at the University of London in 1828‚ Browning
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