Poets often use literary techniques to clearly convey the personalities of their speakers. In "My Last Duchess"‚ Robert Browning uses point of view‚ diction‚ and imagery to achieve a powerful effect‚ underlining the attitude and personality of the Duke. In a dramatic monologue‚ character development is based on what the speaker says‚ and how he says it. In "My Last Duchess"‚ the speaker of the monologue addresses a fictional audience‚ and the reader is seen as an unnoticed third party
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Browning gave life to the dramatic monologue and made it a distinctive and memorable poetic form. Browning was fascinated with human behaviour‚ particularly the darker side of humanity and he believed that the dramatic monologue enabled him to create very powerful masks and ‘tell the truth obliquely’. As we become aware that the characters are wearing masks‚ the layers of artifice or self-deception is where the real persona exits. Browning’s poems open the minds of his readers‚ allowing for
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In the poem my last duchess‚ Robert Browning carefully crafts the character of the duke to illustrate that vengeful male power can lead to dire consequences for women. Firstly‚ the speeches of the dukes reveal a great deal about his character. For example‚ the duke says “she thanked men‚--good; but thanked /somehow… I know not how”. (Browning 31-32) this shows both his arrogant power and his contempt for his duchess‚ both of which lead her demise. Here‚ the duke reveals to his silent listener that
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A Tainted Perception of a Beautiful Duchess In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue‚ “The Last Duchess”‚ the Duke portrays himself as a prideful‚ eloquent‚ man who is impassioned by his art. Throughout the poem‚ the reader soon learns and observes his jealous‚ possessive nature that is concealed within his character. The Duke subtly reveals characteristics of “ruthlessness‚ cynicism‚ contempt for human life” within himself and has an uncontrollable “lust for power”. (Joshua Adler‚ 223) Art possesses
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"The Flea" who haunts "My Last Duchess" History has blessed the English language with many great romanticists; they were men and sometimes woman who had an affinity for describing the glories of love. Yet in the midst of such uninhibited amorousness‚ they were a select few who chose to write about the seamier side of romance. It was these works which perhaps best represented the complexities of the male-female relationships of the time. Although written more than two hundred years apart‚ both "The
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Different But The Same (Comparing and contrasting My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover) Robert Browning is one of the best writers when it comes to dramatic monologues. Dramatic monologue is a poem where a person is speaking to an intended audience about something that they feel strongly about. There are two questions that you ask when reading dramatic monologues they are: Who is the speaker? And who is the speaker speaking to? Robert Browning is known for some of the most influential dramatic
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characters are presented in Macbeth and my last Duchess. Disturbed is a dreadfully intense and powerful word‚ which can unfortunately be used‚ to describe Lady Macbeth and the Duke. The two characters are both disturbed in their own unique ways. Lady Macbeth can be portrayed as disturbed because of her constant desire‚ to terminate her feminine‚ weak traits. However‚ the Duke could be considered to be a disturbed character‚ because of the fact that he murders his Duchess‚ for an exceedingly minute reason
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’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
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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
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Both stories‚ My last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover can be similar‚ yet different in many ways. But‚ let’s begin by saying‚ that the author of both stories was‚ Robert Browning. Browning used dramatic monologue in many of his works he wrote. Needless to say‚ Browning is one of the great Victorian poets‚ writing his shorter dramatic monologues like My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover. In his literary forms‚ he used “poetic” language and used dramatic dialogue to reveal character in both stories
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