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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Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” - Published 1842 Our world is changing and evolving at an astounding rate. Within the last 200 years‚ we have seen two World Wars and countless disputes over false borders created by colonialists‚ slavery‚ and every horrid form of human suffering imaginable!! Human lifestyles and cultures are changing every minute. While our grandparents and ancestors were growing up‚ do you ever think they imagined the world we live in today? What is to come is almost
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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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Robert Browning is known as the Master of Psychological dramatic monologue. In "My last Duchess" the reader only hears the Duke’s story whose perverse point of view throws false accusations towards his recently deceased wife. What the reader knows about the characters is limited‚ so he must piece together the story on his own. The story the duke thinks he tells‚ of an unfaithful wife who offended his dignity‚ and the story he really tells‚ of jealousy and possessive love that leads to murder‚ engages
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Poetry Appreciation. TAQ 2: My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is based upon Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara’s marriage to Lucrezia de’ Medici and her death at his hands. Although it has never been proven that the Duke orchestrated her death‚ she did die suspiciously at the young age of seventeen after only a year of being married to the Duke. At first glance the reader only sees this story but upon reading the poem in more depth and looking at what the form and language devices tell us‚ we can observe
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In this essay‚ I would like to discuss one of Robert Browning’s better known poems‚ "My Last Duchess." While some readers may be put off by Browning’s language which now seems archaic‚ his poem is every bit as relevant today as when he wrote it almost two hundred years ago. It is as relevant in the twenty first century as it was in the sixteenth century which serves as the setting for the poet’s history lesson. The poem focuses on a sixteenth century Italian duke who is regaling his guest with tales
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Poems ‘The laboratory‚ the content of the play‚ from my point of view is about a woman whose partner has left her for another woman. The poet has planned to kill the other woman as she is jealous of her and wants revenge from her ex. We can tell she is jealous of this other woman as she says she’s not little‚ no minion like me!’ this shows she is jealous of the woman as she thinks she is of higher status‚ the words ‘she’s not little’ shows this. She thinks the other woman is better than she is.
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Alexandra Lopez British Literature Annotated Bibliography April 16‚ 2015 My Last Duchess Thesis: Robert Browning’s “ My last Duchess‚” is not a romantic love story about the sudden death of a Duke’s wife. Instead it’s about an insecure and psychotic Duke who feels entitled to everything including his wife and kills her. Browning explores the mind of a lunatic and presenting his audience how men with power can basically get away with almost anything. he analyses issues of feminism‚ domestic violence
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Compare the ways mood is presented in ‘The Laboratory’‚ ‘My Last Duchess’‚ ‘Hitcher’ and ‘Salome’. Mood is a state of feeling stimulated by a particular apparatus or situation. It can also be a distinct emotional characteristics/ theme of a particular item. Mood is reflected in the four poems by the different poets utilising various devices and techniques such as the diction‚ language‚ alliteration etc‚ in order to display a certain message to the audience. The poem ‘Hitcher’ refers to the environment
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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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