Readers of “My Last Duchess” may doubt whether Duke who is the principal character in the poem has arrogance. “My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning. This poem is a narration by The Duke of Ferrara to an envoy of Count at his personal art gallery. The poem contains many rhetorical questions and enjambments to convey the characters to the readers. Browning’s poem bears apparent meanings so that the readers will be misleading. Consequently, it is compulsory to observe the speech, rhetoric, and tone of the poem to evaluate characters. Ultimately, the poet tried to reveal the devilish characters of the Duke and he has a number of faults, but primary of them all is his supreme arrogance as the poem reveals.
Immediately, in the first lines of the poem, the Duke is boasting about the painting at the art gallery. The Duke pulls off the curtain and shows the painting of his wife to the envoy. The Duke says, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall /Looking as if she were alive.” (Browning 1-2), which indicates his wife is dead and also show a lack of emotion.
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The Duke mentions the envoy’s master as “munificence” to gather his attention and apparently, he asks Count’s for a right amount of dowry. The Duke indirectly discloses everything. It is surprising that the envoy starts walking away forcing the Duke to say that “Nay, we’ll go /Together down, sir.” (53-54), which illustrates that the envoy is trying to escape from the boasting of the Duke. Additionally, he might need to report to the Count the fate of the Duke’s first wife. At the end of the poem, the Duke refers a name of an artist “Claus of Innsbruck” (56), who gave him the unique statue of horse and Neptune for him. In one angle, the Duke is apparently stating the new wife would be like the trained horse to him. These evidence highlight that the Duke is a monster who killed his wife with pure
It rains on the night of Anna’s funeral. The sky splits itself open and weeps for her and Abner does not. Anna is dead. It’s the first time in years that all the Drummond children are together and nobody is fighting and Anna is dead.
Annalise is doing the same thing with Laurel. She tries to calm Wes by using a statement that Sam killed Lila. So, Wes will think about it better. Annalise makes what Wes has been done to Sam as a rational reaction.
Meaning through Juxtaposition in “The Miller’s Tale” “I can a noble tale for the nones/With which I wol now quite the Knightes tale … if I misspeke or saye/Wite it the ale of Southwerk, I you praye” (Chaucer 18-19, 31-32); so the Miller prefaces his tale. Told immediately after the Knight’s elevated narrative, this bawdy and amoral farce is presented as a challenging “quite” (response) to its predecessor. It incorporates and consequently lampoons the romantic ideals presented by the knight, and shows the stark contrast between the two storytellers’ social classes. “The Miller’s Tale” is, in essence, the antithesis of contemporary noble and romantic ideals. “The Miller’s Tale” takes much of its meaning from its juxtaposition with “The Knight’s
Massachusetts, 1692... what an awful time to be alive. Especially for a young, timid girl by the name of Clarabeth. Not exactly the most special of girls, just a hard worker for her family, an all around fair person. Unfortunately, Clarabeth woke from an unpleasant sleep with a start on a gloomy August twilight, to the sound of people shouting and an accused “witch” tied to a stake, crying with the force of a tidal wave, pleading to be let down.
Similarly, “My last duchess “ incorporates the same selfless commitment explored in “Cousin Kate”. The duke, the narrator of the poem is identified as a monster since he murdered his wife because of her immature persona. The duchess’ “ looks went everywhere” and the duke also mentioning that other men could draw her to “blush”. We learn within the poem that the duke was a famous man, and because he married a tart, he wouldn't allow “his gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” to become badly reputed. This indicates that the duke was committed to his family name and wouldn’t let careless women destroy his
‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ are both poems about the pride of men and how it always leads to ruin. ‘Ozymandias’ looks at the pride of men as opposed to Nature, and declares it a foolish notion, mocking humanity as whole. ‘My Last Duchess’ looks at the pride of men in contrast to emotions and portrays it as a dangerous force, describing pride as an insinuating sickness of the mind. The initial imagery in ‘Ozymandias’ emphasizes the broken remnants of the monument as the aftereffects of pride.
Good Afternoon Abigail, I am not a heinous person by nature but if I have to, but I can be rude. First off, I don’t know you personally, but I’ve heard of you. Also, no, I’m not good because sometimes life is really horrible, and currently it sucks. Yes, I’m a mess, but I can throw myself together and get through the day. I understand how difficult losing someone close to you is, but I don’t deserve to be guilt tripped by you.
I have interpreted these lines in one way, yet there are a million different possibilities. The author puts the words onto the paper, but the reader’s job is to interpret their own emotion, memory or belief and actually apply it to the poet’s words in order to create an
Not only he did not have gratitude toward the woman for saving his life, but also he abhors her look, age and wealth. The Knight told that even if his wife is faithful, good, and loyal, it does not make him any happier, if she is old, poor, and ugly. The Knight’s reaction might as well be cruel and harsh, but is exactly the prospect for every upper-class men at the time. They were expected to marry women that are beautiful or have a fortune. It is after all a superficial world that people, like the Knight, care most in the things that they can see or
In comparison to the rigid patriarchal society portrayed in “My Last Duchess”, Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci” illustrates how the freedom of individual expression in the romantic period affects people’s perspective on love. While the narrative persona in “My Last Duchess” demands his wife to devote her love to him, the protagonist of “La Belle Dame sans Merci” devotes to the woman he loves even though the love is unrequited. This is evident through the repetition of the line “On the cold hill side.” throughout the poem. The noun phrase “cold hill” suggests that the knight is lonely and depressed when he waits for the woman solely, however unlike the narrative persona of “My Last Duchess”, he would not demand the woman to love him instead he would wait patiently until the day his affection towards her is accepted.
They say I am a witch. I say that I am witch and that I worked with the devil while under the parris household. I never thought I was with the devil. When I used to flap my arms and mumble under my breath I was merely just talking to myself and doing good deeds. I was not a witch, but I was.
In contrast, the speaker in the “My Last Duchess” is flippant, jealous and manipulative, which argues that the speaker is complaining about his wife reflect how some powerful men cannot accept their own failure and place
In the book, “The Courtier” Castiglione mentions certain traits that are essential for the man that will the title of being a courtier. Specifically, in his writing, he expands on the meaning of grace, affectation, and nonchalance. This is revealed in a series of conversations during the game that was to be performed in the Duchess’ favor. He talks about these characteristics in in an effort to give an idea of the specific traits the most perfect courtier must have. The qualities must not only be shown but they must also be genuinely come from within.
The poets lack of respect in his tone along with the irony of his counsel get across to the reader in an indirect yet effective
This essay will approach the poem My Last Duchess, by Robert Browning, from two perspectives: Masculinity and femininity. The essay will illustrate how the abundant details of this poem can be clear representations of many of the concepts of masculinity and femininity contained in the pertaining theories. Among the theorists that will be used or referred to are Kate Millet,Janet Saltzman Chaves, Helene Cixous and Michel Foucault.