Comparing My Last Duchess 'And Porphyria's Lover'

Both poems have similar themes and both speakers describe a particular character found in both stories. Both poems have a beautiful woman as its main character and their themes describe the relationship between two lovers. In "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover," Robert Browning conveys two distinct portraits depicting the love shared between two people. The qualities of beauty, selfishness, and jealousy appear in both poems. In both works, the author explores the hidden influence death has upon the relationship shared by two lovers.

Indeed, it quickly becomes clear that the Duke disliked many things about his dead wife. The Duke dislikes how the Duchess liked everything that she saw, believing that she was “too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on”. It disappoints him because he wanted to impress her with his marriage to her and also with his money and lifestyle. What annoyed the Duke most was that:

In My Last Duchess, the Duke was heavily jealous of his past wife, which is one reason why he wanted to keep the mystery of his painting a secret. He had mixed feelings about this woman, “She had/ A heart... how shall I say?...too soon made glad./ Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (Browning 21.24).

First, in both “My Last Duchess” and “To His Coy Mistress,” both speakers have an intense desire power. In the former poem, the speaker shows himself to be jealous for the attention of his wife and, perhaps more accurately, the power this would give him over her. This is visible when he says he “gave commands” for her end, which he conveys to someone who represents a possible bride, revealing how he considers the power to do so an attractive feature for the representative to consider. The second poem’s speaker has placed all his stock in the power to have a relationship with this woman he “loves” so dearly. Read in this way, it becomes clear he is desperate for this false authority when he begins pointing out random things in nature and saying they should

2. In the last duchess he wants her to only have eyes for him and to submit to her will and have full control. We can see this in how he pretty much boast how he was jealous and had the issue dealt with and keeps her on display like and object that he can do with what he wants. 3.

The Duke thought the Duchess was wanting other men, “Would draw from her alike the approving speech, or blush, at least. She thanked men,-good! but thanked somehow-I know not how-as if she ranked” (Lines 30-34). Most husbands would love that their wives are smiling and are happy. They would think nothing about their wives

This shows the extreme attitude differences between present day and the time period when The Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover were

This is suggested when the Duke was jealous because his wife was “too easily impressed” by other men, which expresses his belief of her being unfaithful. In the lines “she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere”, the Duke further expresses that belief by implying her inability to focus solely on him. As a result in a rage he “gave commands” to have her executed (Browning. Pg. 491). Her death is clear when the Duke draws

No pain she felt” makes me say the speaker of “Porphyria’s Lover” is a murderer (984). In the poems both of the murderers makes readers believe that their victims are still alive. Not only are the speakers murderers, but they are selfish too. They are selfish because both of the men want to keep their women to themselves.

Within the poem My Last Duchess, the speaker of the poem differs his problems from the speaker within the poem Porphyria's Lover. The man, of which is the speaker, in this poem is a very rich man whom is looking for a new wife. This man lives in a larger house and is considerably wealthy. “Somehow- I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-year- old name with anybody’s gift” (lines 33-34). This man had a long held family name that he felt intensely proud of. The speaker of this poem killed his lover because he had the desire to. He claimed to have stated the rules and she chose not to follow them.

The two Robert Browning poems, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ were written in the infamous Victorian Era whereas the two Shakespearean Sonnets were written in the Elizabethan Era. The styles of the poems differ in accordance to the difference of the time in which they were written. Pre-Romantic Era poems moved away from the idealistic concept of love towards a more realistic consideration of it, taking into account the social

Robert Browning’s poems “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” depict a mastery of the dramatic monologue style. Said style contains a narrative told by a character’s point of view that differs from that of the poet.The character’s monologue consists of them discussing their particular situation that they find themselves within, this is meant to convey their internal information to the reader or audience. This in turn allows the reader a glimpse into the personality of the narrating character. Within “Porphyria’s Lover” and My Last Duchess” these monologues are used along with poetic devices to develop unique male personas. Between these two personas there are evident differences in class and within each class social issues arise within each work.

This poem is similar to the other, in many different ways. For example, both have main male characters that seem to be mentally disturbed. In addition, both of the men have relationships with strong women who, despite apparently loving them, they each end up killing. I think that there is an important observation that one should make after learning what both of these poems are about. First, of all, never date a man like Robert Browning, he seems to be quite misunderstood and scary. I mean he essentially wrote to works of literature about killing and objectifying women. Like the other poem, “My Last Duchess” initially focuses on the idea that the women have the power and not the men. This then leads to the men feeling threatened , so the way that they choose to take this power is to kill the women themselves. Murder is essentially the tool used to switch the power from the women to the men. An important observation of the main female character in this particular poem is that the craziness of the main character is a bit more subtle. What do I mean by this? I simply mean that although the Duke is also very suspicious and commits murder, his tone and the way that he describes his situation is the most interesting predictor of his lunacy. The way that he unintentionally reveals himself to both the reader and the marriage broker, his use of modesty, and the way that he contradicts himself is very strange. In conclusion, this poem focuses differently on the male character description than in “Porphyria’s

The Duke takes control of the situation entirely as he is the only speaker throughout the poem and his way of speaking leaves no scope for interruption, by the listener. The way he addresses his listener, “That’s my last duchess”, calls attention to the peculiarity of his designation which he indicates in a very proud manner. The apparent pauses throughout the poem, shown by dashes, indicate hesitation as the Duke considers what to say. This clearly suggests his manipulative attitude. As soon as he points towards the standing portrait of his last wife, he asks his listener to sit down –“Will’t please you sit and look at her?” His way of asking is not very polite and is more of a command which shows the psychology of a man with power.

A Comparison of the Dramatic Monologues of Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning