My Last Duchess

My Last Duchess and one other poem of your choice? Firstly, the presentation in ‘My Last Duchess' Is a relationship that has no equality between the Duke and the Duchess. This Is shown through the title of the poem. The word ‘my Is a possessive pronoun and It connotes with the fact that someone has ownership over something else; In this case the Duke has ownership over the Duchess. The Duke Is objectifying the Duchess and the word after Is ‘last' this suggests that the Duke has had more than one wife and they are his objects, they are not their own person, they belong to him.This is further reinforced by the line ‘That's my last duchess painted on the wall' The word ‘painted' implies that he has preserved his wife, that she is now a physical object. Also it has been manufactured by a man; her husband has created her identity through his personal view of her. Further on in the poem the Duke says ‘Nee then would be stooping; and I choose never to sto op. ‘ he says this because he is annoyed with his wife's actions. The word ‘stooping' means to lower yourself to someone else's level.This suggests that he believes he his higher up than her, so In order to explain his annoyance and is Jealously he would have to bring himself to her level. Furthermore when he says ‘l choose never to stoop'. The ‘choose' Implies that one has power to make their own decisions and because the Duke has lots of power due to high title In the hierarchy It implies that he needs to reinforce the fact that he has lots of power to justify his actions of not explaining his feelings to his wife.The other poem I have chosen is Our Love Now which is similar in the fact that there is no equality in their relationship either. There is some sense of equality in the structure, in the sense that he man and the woman get 4 stanzas, with 6 lines. This visually gives the relationship in the poem equality on the surface. However the language presen ts there to be no equality between the two. It is a man who writes this poem he begins with ‘I said' this is a 1st person pronoun- it prioritize his voice, thus meaning he believes he Is more Important than her.The poet then uses ‘she said' for the other side of the poem. The word ‘she' is a 3rd person pronoun he Is talking about her and Is therefore a recollection of a dialogue and this means he Is denying her a voice cause he is simply interpreting what she said, when she might not have meant that at all. If the poem is read in numbered stanza order and if it is read in a sequence, the woman still gets the last word. At the end she says ‘The tree is forever dead. Such is our love. The tree' is a metaphor for the love between the couple and because she says that the love ‘Is forever dead' this implies that she believes there love is now non-existent and it will be forever more. Overall this implies she has ended the relationship, which also implies tha t she had control over the relationship. This could be a reason why he writes the poem, in the way that he does because it gives him a voice and therefore he can compensate for the lack of control he had over the relationship.The second presentation of the relationship in ‘My Last Duchess' Is that It Is very separate. This Is due to the feelings that the Duke expresses about his wife and the fact that she Isn't Interested by him. He first describes the painting to be ‘a piece of wonder, now. The comma represents a pause and therefore the piece and it hasn't always been a Wonder'. Due to the painting being an object ND this is what he saw his wife as, this then reflects his view on her and that he didn't appreciate her that much until she was dead.The word Wonder' means a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful or remarkable. This reveals what the Duke thinks of his wife now that she is dead, when she was alive he believed she wasn't faithful an d didn't appreciate him enough but now he believes in something different, he believes in the complete opposite to what she was when she was alive. However he describes the Duchess to be twats not her husband's resent only, called that spot of Joy. In this statement the Duke is implying that his wife is promiscuous and his wife shouldn't own a quality like this.The ‘spot' means she is blushing; this is associated with being embarrassed because they are in love. This then implies that she does not actually love the Duke; she doesn't only belong to him as a lover. This separate relationship is reinforced by his very negative view on her when his wife was alive, he states ‘as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred- years-old-name with anybody gift' this is an enjambment and the poet has used it o present the Duke's anger and frustration towards his wife's lack of appreciation.The word ‘gift' makes the Duke sound like a good person, it is his gift to her and therefore she should be grateful but because she isn't showing her gratitude he is angry. Furthermore the ‘nine-hundred-old name' presents the Duke to be a man of prestige and he is proud of this name. He is stating to the listener that he is above her and he is annoyed that his gift is being compared to anyone else's gift, which is obviously not on the same level as his. Where as she seems to be grateful for anything due to, she ranks ‘anybody gift' with his. The word ‘anybody suggests that it is anyone, with any class or social order.The Duke presents his wife to be easily impressed and doesn't have that much intelligence. Overall he wants her to worship him and only him but she is presented to be looking for other things by being promiscuous. The relationship in Our Love Now is also presented to be separate. To begin with there is a visual separation in the presentation of the poem. On one side there is the ‘l said' where as on the opposite side there is the Ã¢â‚¬Ë œshe said' and because Hess people have two different views on their relationship it puts emphasis on this from the very start.There is also separation in the content of the stanzas but there is still the same theme. He uses alliteration in the skin slowly knits'. Knitting is an action that requires skill and patience, this shows that he thinks this will happen to their relationship over time. On the opposite side she says ‘There is always a scar, a permanent reminder' A ‘scar' is ugly it is an impurity and it ruins something that was once perfect. This gives a negative tone she believes that the relationship will no anger be the same as it once was.On the second stanza he again uses a metaphor for their relationship, this metaphor is the red burnt flesh is ugly the word ‘burnt' connotes with pain, which they are both suffering by. Although he has been positive in the previous stanza he begins to become more realistic by saying ‘it can be hidden' this means h e has acknowledged the burn but now he wants to avoid it and be secretive about it until (overtime) it has healed. She then replies with the skin remains bleached' this is an even worse opinion of the relationship.The word ‘bleached' connotes with the skin unnatural and washed out; the pigment of the skin echoed when she goes on to say ‘and a numbness prevails'. This presents a metaphor for her feelings, she no longer feels anything. However the word ‘prevails' suggests that this is superior to other feelings, as if she has tried to fight this feeling but the feeling of nothingness has conquered. Overall this shows they are both very separate in their feelings and emotions, he still believes their relationship can heal whereas she believes it won't be the same as it once was. My last duchess My Last Duchess Question: Write about a poem set well In the past, but which remains relevant today. Explain why, despite the difference In time, the mall concerns of the poem remains relevant to you. A poem which is set well in the past but remains relevant in today's society is ‘My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning. The poem remains relevant today as even nowadays there are people who possess similar characteristics as the Duke; the abusive use of power in some societies is still relevant in some communities.Despite the obvious change in time and society, there are still people who are egotistical and controlling; unman nature remains unaltered even with time. Before the poem even begins we are immediately struck by the ambiguity of the title itself. We are left to wonder how many duchesses has the duke had, who Is his last duchess nor do we know If the â€Å"last† Indicates the final duchess or Just the previous one. The poem begins by the duke leading an emissary arou nd his castle, acting as a tour.He begins by reminiscing about the painting of his last duchess and the reader comes to realize the Duke's cold character as he describes the painting as â€Å"the depth and passion of TTS earnest glance†. He refers to the girl as â€Å"its† instead of her, indicating she is of little worth to him. This dehumidifies her and further suggests the duke has developed a better relationship with the painting than the he had with the woman It represents.We also come to understand here that the duke is possessive and demands to be obeyed â€Å"since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but l† he chooses who does or does not see the duchess- something he could not achieve when she was alive. This shows the overwhelming control that the duke has over the ouches even after death- he cuts even her portrait off from what she loved: life. The woman has clearly died time ago but the possessive duke still requires control over her, sugg esting a threatening and controlling relationship which can sadly sully be seen in today's society to confirm this disturbing suggestion.Later in the Poem the Duke describes his wife's imperfections and we are introduced to his egotism, which reined her in. We are told by the duke that twats not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of Joy into the Duchess' cheek twats not Her husband's presence only, called that spot twats not Of Joy Into the Duchess' cheek ‘twats not her husband's presence only, called that spot of Joy into the Duchess†. The duke is explaining to the envoy that he was not the source of her happiness which suggests he is representing the fact she gained pleasure from other things in life besides the duke.His egotism and extreme self-obsession are highlighted here, painting a picture of a man who is very dominating. Moreover the duke's dramatic monologue indicates that the duchess was subjugated when she was with him and unable to express her own opinions and feelings. The ‘spot of Joy in the duchess emphasizes the duchess's simple character, innocent, youthful zest for, Joy in, life. It is as if his power has made him evolve into becoming a very unpleased and domineering husband. In contrast to him, the duchess has a respectful and vibrant character which is further emphasized when the duke says â€Å"such stuff was courtesy, she thought†.His tone is viciously contemptuous- as if he is hissing, indicated by the alliteration of the â€Å"s†. The duke's scornful and cold tone is portrayed as he sneers â€Å"she thought†, this underlines how much antipathy he had for the duchess's view, indicating how disturbing their relationship had become. The duke expands on his wife's faults. He disapproves of how she was too easily impressed by the beauties of nature according to his unappreciative nature. Like all overbearing people, the duke describes the duchess to the reader as being fascinated without muc h effort, â€Å"she had/ a heart- how shall I say? Too soon made glad, oo easily impressed† This clarifies his critical attitude towards the duchess: she can be made happy by simple things which he could never understand. The young woman's â€Å"faults† were qualities like compassion, modesty, humility, delight in simple pleasures, and courtesy to those who served her. These lines have a natural, realistic, spontaneous feel created by Borrowing's use of disyllabic rhyming couplets which give the impression of pauses before speech, suggesting he pauses for thought, as if talking directly to us.This adds to the feeling of horror as it brings us closer to the duke, an evil and twisted character who attempts to persuade the reader. This creates to a closeness and intimacy which the reader finds sinister. Even today we can see societies having divided opinions on the attributes on certain global leaders. The duke's objections about the duchess further continued as he compl ains she was too easily impressed; she liked whatever she looked on and her looks went everywhere†.Here the Duke blames her for not seeing any difference between being the wife of a great man or any other simple pleasure. He believes she gave all men the kind of respect that only a man with his family's rank deserves. We are struck by horror as we come to realize the youth of the duchess herself as the duke explains her behavior around the castle as she â€Å"broke in the orchard for her, the white mule she rode† This indicates how young she is- full of life and warm hearted, Just like a manager. He could not tolerate the fact the duchess delighted in beauty and appreciated gifts from others.He recalls that she considered his favor at her breast' no more important than the setting of the sun or cherries compared to the duke's â€Å"gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name†. This reveals the duke's arrogance about his title and position. He talks about his title and clearly feels his position should had been given more respect from his wife. He calls his name ‘his gift' which suggests he clear to the reader that his name has been given grudgingly. The word ‘stoop' emphasizes this idea as it denotes how high up the duke thinks he is.This kind of attitude and air of arrogance would simply not be accepted in today's society due to people having being less discriminative. The duke's appalling lack of remorse and human emotion is bought to the reader when he causally describes the duchess's death. The almost inhumane coldness of his character is made clear as he states: â€Å"Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together† Three very short, sharp, decisive clauses which subtly imply the girl's murder. A quick and decisive process: this†¦ Soother'.He simply decides and the deed is done, this again shows his abuse of power, lack of empathy and humanity as murder is the ultimate form of control . If this behavior was not shocking enough, the duke further spits out about the duchess: â€Å"There she stands as if alive. Will's please you rise? We'll meet the company below, then† Coming Just after the previous lines, the words there she stands as if alive' strongly suggests the girl has been murdered. After this there is a shocking Juxtaposition in that he was Just talking about murder before suddenly suggesting they merely re-join the other company.He has no conscience. Again we find a harsh link to today's society and the duke's era as there are people who will go to unbelievable lengths to gain their control, ignoring or out ruling their conscience; sometimes with tragic consequences. In conclusion, it is clear that there are many dominant personalities in society today and the duke was one of these men. He has an exaggerated sense of his own position and importance, perhaps because of his upper class upbringing and family background. But this ultimately led to the cold heartless murder of his last duchess. My last duchess This story of a man who has, out of Jealousy and insecurity, disposed of his wife, most likely by murder, is chillingly told by Browning through the voice of the murderer himself In a dramatic monologue. Throughout, Browning turns the speaker's words against himself: the apparently all-powerful narrator loses control of his narrative, Just as he lost control of his wife, and must kill his story In order to continue In his plans to gain another wife. Browning sets this story In Renaissance Italy, specifically in Ferrara, which is named in the poem's subtitle.The specific time-period is not named, but the names of the artists mentioned in the poem recall famous painters such as Fra Angelico and Fra Lippo Lippi, who lived in the quattro – and cinquecento in Italy. This period is renowned not only for the flourishing of artistic talent and the production of beautiful works of art (often of surprising verisimilitude) but also for violence, intrigue and murder: indeed, Ferrara itsel f, seat of the d'Este family, was a byword for fabulous displays of artistic and architectural taste alongside appalling brutality.These ideas embody the violence and materialism at the heart of the story, and which, It Is hinted, motivated the Duke's murder of his last Duchess. The Immediate setting for the story is an upper chamber In the ducal palace, away from the ‘company below, and Browning uses this as a means of making his narrator a more Intlmldatlng character, capable of dominating the Isolated and socially Inferior audience (the Count is, we are told our ‘master'). The use of a setting which amplifies the Duke's power is a key aspect of Browning's narrative method here, in that the ower belies the weakness and insecurity which cause the Duchess' death.The final image of ‘Neptune, taming a sea-horse', ought to be a final flourish for the Duke in his theatrical show for the listening envoy, yet this detail of the setting is emblematic of Brownings irony at work throughout the poem: whereas the Duke sees the ‘rarity as a sign of his wealth and good taste, and also as a representation of his ability to tame' a wild animal, he does not see the irony in him taming a creature as tiny and harmless as a sea-horse.Browning begins his story with the Duke presenting a icture of his ‘last' Duchess to an envoy, In a bld to Impress upon him his power and good taste, and ultimately, to ensure winning the Count's daughter's hand In marriage.Even in the first line, though, the Duke's choice of language undermines himself: his confident statement of That's my last Duchess painted on the wall' ought to establish a domineering voice (and, to an extent, it does, developed through relentlessly rhyming couplets), but the undertones of the word ‘last' appear to escape him – he ought, perhaps, to have said ‘late', but this word establishes his materialism nd shallow ostentatiousness, which cause the reader to mistrust his vers ion of events.In the subsequent discussion of the picture Browning sets up the scene and many of the central questions of the story. The Duke's apparently offtand mentioning of the artist's name sits uneasily with his need for control over the curtain (which ‘none puts by but l') establishes the contradictions Inherent in the narrative voice.The subsequent account of what the Duke Imagines Fra Pandolf saying to his Duchess Introduces the question over the Duchess' sexual fidelity which will feature trongly later in the story, when the Duke mentions the ‘spot of joy† which was not only called up Dy ner nusDan0's presence. ‘ Browning tells tne story 0T tne Duke ana Duchess' marriage, and of the incidents which led to her death, in a loose, apparently unstructured series of allegations made by the Duke about her ‘smile', which Went everywhere', and her heart, which was too soon made glad. Tellingly, the reader finds it hard to sympathise with the narrator' s evident indignation, expressed in the outburst ‘Sir, twas all one! , when all that the Duchess stands accused of is loving the dropping of the daylight in the West' and ‘a bough of cherries'; to the Duke it seems that these are evidence of feminine weakness, if not actual infidelity, but the reader's mistrust of the Duke invites them to see the images simply for what they are: examples of nature's unfettered beauty.It seems that Brownings intention here is to distance the audience from the narrator, so that we are inclined to view his actions more dispassionately and critically: by doing this, Browning makes the Duke's final ccusation – that of his wife undervaluing his ‘nine-hundred-years-old-name' – seem ridiculous. The narration of the murder itself is preceded by a passage of speech which is in marked contrast to the controlled refinement of the narrator's voice in the early stages of the monologue.His phrases become fragmented, broken by asides such as ‘l know not how, and the repetition of ‘stoop' (or forms thereof) three times in is used by Browning as conveying the impression of frustration and even anger in the narrative voice. With each repetition, the narrator's grip on the narrative weakens. Significantly, whereas the Duke relates the Duchess' behaviour earlier as a series of apparently emblematic incidents, at this stage he resorts to generalising, asking Who passed without / Much the same smile?What ought to be the final, damning indictment of the Duchess' infidelity, becomes instead, a damning indictment of the narrator's selfish insecurity. Browning recounts the Duchess' death (or, at least, disappearance) in a striking moment of only two lines, where the narrator appears to egain his control over his version of events. The series of short phrases, interspersed with semi-colons, has an air of grim finality, and it may appear that the narrator is smugly self-satisfied with his actions. Certainly, giv en the claustrophobic setting of an upper chamber, isolated from the ‘company below, the intention seems clear.However, it is hard to see his character as being dignified and impressive, when he seems more impressed with the ‘commands' he gave, and the fact that it is ‘smiles' which stopped. Here, Browning exploits the ambiguity of the word ‘smile' hich was created by the Duke itself: where he appears to intend it to stand as a euphemism for sexual infidelity, it remains in its literal meaning an innocent and charming action, and it is in keeping with Brownings method throughout the poem to invite the reader to see it as such.Browning concludes the story on a chilling note, with the Duke's narration regaining the polished, icy control that characterised the early parts of the monologue. The return to the present tense at Will't please you to rise' reminds the reader that they are a character in this drama, and Browning uses his to make the Duke's attempt to g ain a new wife all the more unsettling.The Duke's appeal, phrased in impossibly oblique and opaque terms, for a dowry, is certainly baffling, but Browning here hints at a sub-text which the Duke has thus far omitted from the story: the Duke appears to need money. Whether or not he is in dire financial straits, the collocation of money and the fair daughter's self makes for a disturbing conclusion, appearing to sum up the Duke's brutal objectification of women, In wnlcn tney are sllencea