My Last Duchess Comparison

In My Last Duchess, power and control are presented through objects. For example, the curtain used to cover up the painting acts as a symbol of the Duke’s control over his Duchess even now she’s dead, as he tells the envoy that “none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I”. This implies that even though she’s dead, he still wants to be able to keep her under his control, and treats her portrait like a possession, which he tried to do to her when she was alive. This represents his

When examining both Robert Browning’s, My Last Duchess, and Charlotte Mew’s, The Farmers Bride, the reader witnesses the poems positions of marriage in the natural world. Within both works, it is quite evident how each relationship is vastly different from the modern world, yet parallel it at the same time. Whether it be: the interactions between the two people or the conditions of the marriage, it is made more than apparent that both can be applied to modern conceptualizations of marriage.

The first area of discussion is who is telling the story. In My Last Duchess, the narrator is a vastly wealthy Duke, who lives in a massive house with its own art gallery. In Porphyria’s Lover however, the narrator is a man, who we are led to believe is poor. He

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

William Blake’s poem “London” takes a complex look at life in London, England during the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds as he lived and experienced it. Blake’s use of ambiguous and double meaning words makes this poem both complex and interesting. Through the following explication I will unravel these complexities to show how this is an interesting poem.

Robert Browning wrote a poem about his wifes painting and how he but it makes what is being said ten times worse than just reading it. The way he says "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive." Makes the readers emotions come out and really make the reader feel how he felt when writing this poem. Robert's wording in this poem is very powerful and leave the reader in awe and really makes the reader see the pain he had felt in the time of writing this poem. "That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands." when reading this part it was hard to understand what he ment by this but after reading it twice I saw it ment that it was the past painting and she is gone so the

Browning has used extensively rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions are questions that are posted in a literary work that does not need an answer: the strategic aims of rhetorical questions are for emphasizing an issue or creating an object. Duke indicates the aspect of misogyny through stating “Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said.” (5) This is not a suggestion but indicates an aspect of command especially when he completes the state with “I said.” Reading the poem shows that the Duke never appreciated women or had a negative perspective of women, which may have contributed to the death of Duchess. The approach taken is a form of objectification of women, which may have been right at the time but the current society frown about it. In addition, the Duke wants the reader to sympathize with him and he states “A heart—how shall I say? — too soon made glad,” (22) indicating that he lacks the wording for his comments. Even though he may have contributed

the personality of his duchess, he is shown to be a heartless, arrogant man. His complete

In his poems, “The Bishop Orders His Tomb”, “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister”, and “My Last Duchess”, Browning explores a few sins that link to Victorian ideas yet continue to be compelling commentary on some of the modernity’s biggest contradictions. These characters process the world according to their own selfish ideologies, filtering into dramatic monologues that challenge and comment on the time’s social norms and growing institutions. The narrator of “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” is resentful and irrationally petty contrary to the monolithic idea of a monk. In “My Last Duchess” charm thinly veils the tyrannical nature of a respected Duke. Lastly, the bishop of “The Bishop Orders His Tomb” is sour with greed, jealousy, vanity, and resentment. These characters act out of their socially-prescribed nature and this, I think, is ultimately a critique of Victorian ideals of order, structure, poise, domesticity and perfection. These ideas of people and institutions rarely reflect the reality.

In "London", William Blake brings to light a city overrun by poverty and hardship. Blake discards the common, glorifying view of London and replaces it with his idea of truth. London is nothing more but a city strapped by harsh economic times where Royalty and other venues of power have allowed morality and goodness to deteriorate so that suffering and poverty are all that exist. It is with the use of three distinct metaphors; "mind-forg'd manacles", "blackning Church", and "Marriage hearse", that Blake conveys the idea of a city that suffers from physical and psychological imprisonment, social oppression, and an unraveling moral society.

he still can go out and do things, as no matter how much he has done,

In Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess,” the speaker is concerned with the rank of importance he acquires in his wife’s life. The speaker’s personality comes off as angry, self-centered, and greatly annoyed. One time the speaker portrays these an annoyed quality is when he stated “as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift” (Browning, 33-34). The speaker’s spouse was brought equal amounts of joy by marriage as she was by the little things in life. The speaker could not fathom the fact that his spouse was not putting him, her husband,

In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.

“My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, depicts powerful husbands attempting to control the actions of their wives as they are free to do as they please. In contrast, women are expected to be faithful and attentive only to their husbands. The power and control of the Duke is conveyed by a painting of the Duchess. It belongs to the Duke and is referred to as “my last Duchess” (1). The use of “my” demonstrates the possessive nature of the Duke and his claim of the Duchess as his own personal possession, much like the painting itself. As the Duke persists on forcing domination upon the Duchess, he is greatly displeased to find that she treats and considers him as the same value as nearly any other man.

London is a city of many faces. Through the writing of these two famed authors, William Blake and William Wordsworth, they both manage to effectively illustrate the two very different views on London. Blake shows us the dark and twisted side of London facing poverty and oppression, while Wordsworth highlights the bright, peaceful, and beautiful aspects of London. The two poets write their contrasting views by using tones, imagery, and senses; can open the reader's eyes to change and how quickly it can happen.