Analysis Of ' My Last Duchess ' By Robert Browning

Robert Browning wrote the two poems, "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover." Both poems convey an thoughtful, examination profound commentary about the concept of love.

The poem “My Last Duchess” is a historical event that involves the Duke of Ferrara and Alfonso who lived in the 16th century. Robert Browning "My Last Duchess" presents a narrative about a recently widowed Duke who talks with an emissary had come to an arranged marriage with another lady from a powerful and wealthy family. In the perspective of Duke, power and wealth were integral in marriage and was determined to be married to a wealthy lady from a famous family. As the Duke orients the emissary through the palace, he stops and shows a portrait of the late Duchess who was a lovely and young girl. The Duke then begins by stating information about the picture and then to the Duchess. Duke claims that the Duchess flirted with everyone and did not appreciate the history of the family: “gift of a nine hundred years old name.”(33) However, when an individual continues to read the poem, it is evident that the Duke played an important role in killing the lady. Duke states that “he gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together”(45-46) he used these words to define the death of his beloved Duchess. The aim of the essay is to analyze literary devices that emphasize the content of the poem, which includes rhetorical questions, exclamation mark, and em dash.

In My Last Duchess, Robert Browning uses voice to create a sinister tone by the use of words he chooses for the Duke of Ferrara to use in his dramatic monologue. The Duke is an arrogant, selfish man who loves the arts. He introduces his deceased wife as “That’s my last Duchess, painted on the wall,” he says as if he owned her. The Duke was not happy when she participated in things that that he did not provide her with, she didn’t bow down to his aristocratic ways and this displeased him to a great extent. Then nonchalantly, he tells the ambassador that “I gave commands, Then all smiles stopped together.’ This is the dukes sinister way of confessing he had her murdered.

Browning closes My Last Duchess by establishing that envy can lead a person to commit extreme acts and hinder their- or someone else’s sanity. Browning uses characterization to exploit the character development of the duke and also enhance how envy can lead

In any society, in effort to establish order, roles and jobs are assigned that its citizens are expected to undertake. Whether explicitly stated, or simply implied, these roles play a significant part in that society’s culture. However, the exact expectations of the people, particularly women, actually changes rather notably across various cultures. One need only look to a culture’s literature to find these changes. Examining most early eastern literature, such as Greek classics Theseus or Oedipus Rex, the role of women would be almost non existent. In contrast the role of women grows more significant through novels such as Pride & Prejudice and even lends itself to a invaluable position in other literature and cultures.

In Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” a servant of a man named the Count is coming to see a duke to arrange a marriage between the Count’s daughter and the duke. During the meeting, the duke reminisces about his late wife, the duchess. When discussing the late duchess, the duke talks about how the duchess was unfaithful to him with men who gave her gifts. However, the duke subtly gives hints that he is not the best spouse. He is an intimidating man, and he thinks of himself superior to everyone, including his wife.

In the poem 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning, the speaker, or the Duke, develops distinct tones when he speaks in remembrance of his last Duchess' portrait, which hangs from the wall in his gallery. The tone of the Duke portrays his different emotions towards his ex-wife, as he converses with a silent male auditor. In the poem, the Duke speaks about the Duchess with a bitter tone. For instance, he states that the Duchess is "too easily impressed; she liked whate'er she looked on." This quote implies that when the Duchess was alive, she accepted flirtations from different men, and her eyes went everywhere instead of remaining only on her husband.

Response to Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is an aesthetic monologue about the Duke of Ferrara’s painting of his late wife. The Duke is meeting with his potential new wife’s family to discuss his marrying the Count’s daughter. While giving a tour of his estate the Duke shows the family his painting of his late wife, the Duchess.

The Last Duchess of Ferrara was the Duke’s ex-wife. She was a woman of compassion, modesty, and she loved the simple things of life. In contrast, the Duke was an arrogant, possessive, jealous and controlling person. In the dramatic lyric, “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, the Duke becomes carried away with talking about a painting of his Last Duchess by Fra Pandolf. He reveals to the Counts envoy that he gave the command to kill his wife, because he could not express to her how he felt about the way she acted towards other men. Browning uses dramatic monologue, rhyme couplets, enjambment, and stanza in “My Last Duchess” to reveal the controlling thoughts of a jealous, controlling, and arrogant Duke who killed his wife.

In the dramatic monologue, “My Last Duchess” Robert Browning tells of a Duke that murdered his wife because she was easily pleased by the advances of other men. In the poem, the Duke is the speaker and is guiding a guest through his home until they come across a portrait of the Duchess. Through the Duke’s speech, it is obviously that he is a very prideful person and cares a lot for his wealth. Due to his wealth and status, he has become arrogant and demanding. When he desires are not fulfilled he will go to the extreme and kill someone.

Blank Verse and Other Verse Forms : Browning was a great metrical artist. He experimented with number of stanza – forms and rhyme – schemes. Browning has written My Last Duchess in heroic couplets but the sense runs so naturally from the one line to the other that the reader hardly remains conscious of the rhyme. The couplets take the reader along with the virtue of their speed. It is, therefore, that from the point of view of language, My Last Duchess is on of the most lovable poems of Browning. One feels like reading the following lines of the poem, over and over again :

In the poem “My Last Duchess” by poet Robert Browning, the speaker is a very wealthy Duke who is showing another man around his estate whilst discussing the terms of his next impending marriage. While showing the visitor his collections of art they come across one work to which the Duke draws back the curtain covering it and states “that’s my last Duchess painted on the wall”. The Duke then goes on to describe his former wife’s demeanor stating in a displeasing tone to his visitor “Sir, ‘twas not Her husband’s presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek”. The reader then begins to understand from the statement that; not only was the Duchess was not completely faithful in her marriage to the Duke, but the Duke himself has

Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess has been widely debated as to when it was written as this influences the interpretation of which historical figures were fashioned after characters in the poem. The poem was written as a memorial for the death of Duchess Blanche of Lancaster, whose husband John of Gaunt was a patron of Chaucer’s. Knowing the date that Chaucer wrote this poem affects the way in which readers and audience at the time interpreted the poem. The initial response is to read the Black Knight figure as John of Gaunt, because the character is lamenting the loss of his love that is named Lady White in the poem. The French translation of White is Blanche, which makes it evident that the poem is a type of tribute for her death. Therefore the poem can be interpreted as the love between John of Gaunt and Duchess Blanche, as well as his grief for her now that she has passed. The narrator is interpreted to be Chaucer, as his status in the poem appears to be lower than the Black Knight, and the narrator himself is dealing with a grief of his own though it does not explicitly say whom he mourns. Chaucer has carefully woven historical context through The Book of the Duchess by subtly inferring real medieval figures with characters in the poem, as well as the many classical and medieval figures from prominent Greek and Roman Myths, as well as Greek philosophers and academics. Chaucer uses the death of Duchess Blanche as a reason to write The Book of the Duchess as a means to appeal

The poems “My Last Duchess” and “Andrea del Sarto” by Robert Browning are both dramatic monologues, consisting of men talking about their wives. Both speakers are similar men of different background; both have their confidence depend on outside factors (wife, title), they both want to possess their wives, and they both mistakenly think that they have achieved this goal.

In director Joseph Ruben’s film Sleeping with the Enemy and Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess”, controlling husbands target their wives. Within both works, the husbands act jealous of trivial, imagined things; through the eyes of the husbands, such imaginings degrade the wife and pave the way to more insane and possessive thoughts. These jealous thoughts evidence an unhealthy relationship and lead to escalating levels of abuse as well as a paranoia of the wife leaving and not appreciating the man. Additionally, because of some unseen “wrongdoing” by the wives, the husbands kill or wish to kill them. Both men in these situations are horrible people; while Martin Burney, portrayed by Patrick Bergin and his wife Laura, played by Julia Roberts, in Sleeping with the Enemy may be fictional characters, the Duke and duchess in “My Last Duchess” are based on real people. Browning supposedly modeled the duke after Alfonso II, the Duke of Ferrara, whose young wife died of suspicious causes. Therefore, the fact that they were actual people increases the intrigue of the poem and possibly drew more attention to the importance of hidden violence in relationships. These plots victimize the wives and demonstrate how domestic abuse is an important issue in people’s lives.