Analysis of My Last Duchess by Robert Browning Essay -- Robert Brownin

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue about a duke who is showing the portrait of his commencement exercise wife, the duchess, to a servant of his coming(prenominal) father-in-law, the Count. In a dramatic monologue, the speaker addresses a distinct but silent audience. Through his speech, the speaker unintentionally reveals his own personality. As such, in nurture this verse form, the reader finds the duke to be self-centered, arrogant, controlling, chauvinistic and a very jealous man. The more he attempted to conceal these traits, however, the more they became evident. There is situational irony (a discrepancy betwixt what the character believes and what the reader knows to be true) in this because the duke does not realize this is what is happening. Instead, he thinks he appears as a powerful and noble aristocrat. Robert Browning, the poet, uses iambic pentameter throughout the poem. He breaks up the pattern so that every two lines rhyme. Aside from bein g a dramatic monologue, the poem is also considered lyric poetry because it is a poem that evokes emotion but does not tell a story. The poem is being told in the speakers point-of-view about his first duchess, also as revealed in the title, The Last Duchess. The riding horse is important because the dukes attitude correlates to how men treated women at that time. The theme of the poem appears to be the dukes possessive love and his reflections on his life with the duchess, which ultimately brings about bump off and his lack of conscience or remorse.In the first several lines (1-8) of the poem , the duke is addressing an unknown listener. He only uses the pronoun you so it is never clear until the ending who the mean listener is. He begins by pointing out the portrait on the wall... ...ding this poem, it is obvious to think that the Duke was definitely a cruel and heartless man. Assuming he had his first wife killed, he didnt seem to care. He just forged ahead in an attempt to f ind another woman he could control. As a matter of accompaniment, he used his influence to actually warn the servant of his plans for his marriage to the Counts daughter. Instead of mourning his first wife, he seemed to revel in the fact that he was now able to control her beauty in the portrait by only allowing viewing to those he invited to see it when he opened the curtain. Oh, what a powerful feeling that must hold up been for him In the 20th century, however, I think this poem would have been written differently to reflect the freedom women have today. No woman would have put up with him Maybe the Duke would have had second thoughts about how he treated his beautiful Duchess.