My last duchess poem summary. My Last Duchess Poem Summary And Line By Line Analysis By Robert Browning In English • English Summary 2022-10-29
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"My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning in 1842. The speaker in the poem is the Duke of Ferrara, who is giving a tour of his palace to an envoy from another noble family. As they walk through the palace, the Duke stops in front of a portrait of his last wife, the Duchess.
The Duke begins to speak about the Duchess, saying that she had a "spotless mind" and a "heart as soft" as a baby's. However, he also reveals that she had a tendency to smile too much and too freely, which he found irritating. He implies that he had her killed because of this, saying that she "smiled" one too many times.
Throughout the poem, the Duke's pride and arrogance are evident in his words and actions. He is extremely possessive of the Duchess and sees her as a possession rather than a person. He is also jealous of anyone who might have received her attention or affection, including the courtiers who admired her beauty.
The Duke's actions and attitudes towards the Duchess are disturbing and show a lack of empathy and understanding towards her as a person. He is more concerned with maintaining his own reputation and social standing than with the happiness or well-being of his wife.
In the final lines of the poem, the Duke hints that he is planning to marry again and that he expects his new wife to be more obedient and submissive. This reveals the Duke's shallow and selfish nature, as he is willing to discard one wife for another simply because she does not meet his expectations.
Overall, "My Last Duchess" is a thought-provoking and disturbing poem that explores the themes of power, possession, and control in relationships. It serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of selfishness and a lack of empathy towards others.
My Last Duchess Summary
The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Even the bough of cherries from the orchard brought to her by a fool inspired her. All pleased her equally. His obsession reaches a height when he reveals that he ordered to murder his wife because of her behavior with other men. He is in total control of the situation, however casual he may pretend to be. In saying this, the duke remarks that he keeps the portrait behind a curtain that only he may draw aside.
They were not considered equal as men and were not allowed to stand as independent beings and were controlled by men. Objectively, it's easy to identify him as a monster, since he had his wife murdered for what comes across as fairly innocuous crimes. Below is the synopsis of the work. Soon enough, the loving and caring duke becomes a possessive husband who is enraged by the sexuality of her wife and her friendly behavior. Likewise, what he expects of his wives, particularly of this woman whose portrait continues to provide him with fodder for performance, suggests a deeper psychology than one meant solely for criticism.
And looks like we are getting into some marriage negotiations. On one hand, it is a twisted plan, coupling evil and holy together. He might be afraid after hearing all these. Everything made her glad and impressed. Consequently, we learn that the Duke probably commanded to kill her. That is why the Duke considers it a piece of wonderful art now.
Arguments can be made about the Involvement of the Duke in the death of his Duchess. It was a statue of God Neptune taming his sea-horse and it was cast in Bronze. The commands given by the Duke in the middle part of the poem can be understood as either him prohibiting her from smiling or outright killing the woman, which would explain why she is referred to in the past tense. After saying that he alone opens the curtain, the duke promptly begins a catalog of complaints about the way his wife had acted. Not a single word is wasted. There's certainly no explicit evidence of this, but at the same time, it's plausible that a man as arrogant as the duke, especially one so equipped with the power of euphemism, would avoid spelling out his disgrace to a lowly envoy and instead would speak around the issue.
He uses his power to get others to do his will, including, presumably, the agent. Further, he asks the listener to accompany him to the next painting in his gallery, when the poem ends. Everyone who looks at it, turns to Duke as if they want to ask him how the painting of the Duchess looks so real but they never dare to ask it actually. The enjambment works against the otherwise orderly meter to remind us that the duke will control his world, including the rhyme scheme of his monologue. Spoken monologues often reveal more to the listener and reader than the speaker intends, but this arrogant aristocrat has no hesitation.
Analysis of the Robert Browning Poem 'My Last Duchess'
The use of first-person and the fixed perspective of the piece are prime examples of a dramatic monologue. Thus, he decides to lesson her on loving everything so easily. Through this poem, the poet actually criticizes this type of viewpoint about women. Moreover, the white mule on which she rode around the terrace made her happy in a similar way. Enjambment The technique in which a sentence is carried over to the next line without any pause, is known as Enjambment. Our speaker clears all our doubts.
My Last Duchess Summary, Themes, and Literary Analysis
He appears confident his demands will be met, both the ample dowry and the subservient wife. As the duke is getting ready to go first floor, likely putting on his garments, he sees that the courier is taking a gander at the artistic creations on the divider. The Duke admits that it is good to thank someone if they present you any gift or do any favour to you. In a dramatic monologue, the speaker addresses alone at the stage in the presence of a silent listener. Browning forces his reader to become involved in the poem in order to understand it, and this adds to the fun of reading his work. The picture of the Duchess is so beautifully painted that the speaker says it seems that she is standing alive in front of him.
My Last Duchess Poem Summary And Line By Line Analysis By Robert Browning In English • English Summary
Cite this page as follows: "My Last Duchess - Themes and Meanings" Critical Guide to Poetry for Students Ed. Lines 21-24 The Duke further explains the nature of his late Duchess to the listener. Cite this page as follows: "My Last Duchess - Forms and Devices" Critical Guide to Poetry for Students Ed. This technique, in which the syntactical pauses rarely coincide with line endings, creates a tension in the rhythm and places emphasis on the horrors the duke reveals as the sentences end in mid-line caesura. Thus, we see how her jovial nature did not go went down well with him. He mentions that he expects a high dowry, though he is happy enough with the daughter herself. He expresses that for a wife, such behavior should be only practiced with her husband.
