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Misogyny In My Last Duchess

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Misogyny is a theme throughout most literature work for centuries. Robert Browning in “My Last Duchess,” is a monologue about a duke who is from Ferrara, Italy. In the poem, the duke is talking to a nobleman whom is the father of his future wife. The duke explains why he murdered his previous wife who was just seventeen years old and is warning the matchmaker and his future wife that if she does not remain obedient, then the duke will not hesitate to murder her either. Andrew Marvel in “His Coy Mistress,” writes a monologue about a man wanting to have sex with a shy woman before marriage. The speaker believed that there is not enough time to go through the flirting and admiration stages with her, so they should fast forward to having sex. While both poets have a character in their poem that portray a controlling attitude, Browning focuses on the fate of the duchess who disobeys him while Marvel …show more content…

The speaker said, “Thy beauty shall no more be found/ Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound,” (25, 26). The speaker is trying to explain to the mistress that because time is running out, everyone is going to die soon. So her beauty will go to waste when she is in the coffin. The speaker continues to say, “My echoing song: then worms shall try/ That long preserved virginity,” to scare the mistress (27, 28). The tone of the poem went from sweet to scary. Worms taking the mistresses virginity is suppose to make the mistress realize that there is no point on preserving her “honor” when it will just go with her to the grave. The speaker goes on about and describes her “quaint” turning into dust. During that time period, quaint meant vagina. Then says how his “lust” will turn into ashes. If they die without having sex together, his desire will all burn up, with nothing left but the “ashes.” He is implying that if he cannot have sex

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