My Last Duchess
One of the greatest Victorian poets and masters of the dramatic monologue, Robert Browning was born in London on the seventh of May in 1812. His father was a clerk at the Bank of England and mostly educated Browning at home. He attended London University in 1828, but withdrew after his second term. After his first publication in 1833, Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession, he received little attention and only random criticism of his later works. It was not until 1869 when The Ring and the Book was published that he received recognition and began to build his reputation. Prior to his success, he married Elizabeth Browning against her father's wishes and stayed deeply devoted to her until her death in 1861. While married to Elizabeth, he lived in Florence, Italy, where he did some of his finest work. Nearly all of his companions and acquaintances considered him a sociable person and a gracious host, as he was well known for his dinner parties. Browning continued to publish volumes of poetry until his death on December the twelfth of 1889. Robert Browning is remembered for his mastery at capturing the essence and power of the dramatic monologue. Through symbolism, structure and technique, Browning cr
Through the format, word choice, and speech the intensity of the dramatic monologue is felt. Nearly all of the crucial symbols represent his reasoning for his cruel actions or his supreme control. The title even become symbolic, for the usage of the word "my" has a possessive tone, and he considers her his property. Three short years later the Duke arranged to marry Barbara, a niece of the Count of Tyrol. The language Browning uses in the monologue provides the historical background to become evident. "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue that tries to dive into the reasoning of the human mind. Also the sentence variety displayed gives another opening for interpretation of the Duke. Bibliography BibliographyGrossman, Mark. All of these gifts of nature he finds to be elementary and insignificant, but to her they are beautiful and extraordinary. When he uses the long winded, detailed sentences he displays his arrogance and conceit. When the Duke talks of how the Duchess disgusts him that also implies explicit word choice to provide accurate characterization. Continuing the description, he depicts the duchess's ways, including her virtues of innocence and unspoiled beauty. The white mule she would ride is something that gives her pleasure, she finds it exotic and interesting. The primary symbol is displayed when the duke exclaims, "Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me" (lines 54-56)! When he directs the envoy's attention to the statue, he describes the god of the sea as taming the sea horse.
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