My Last Duchess
Both of the poems that we had to read
are very dark in my opinion. Both deal with men taking their unchecked emotions
out on their significant other. Maybe it’s due to today’s views on
relationships and the rise of feminism, but neither of the relationships
explored in the poems appear to be healthy. To have a need to feel so in
control of your significant other that you would kill them is terrifying. In Porphyria's
Lover we see Porphyria get killed. In My Last Duchess, however, we
do not see the duchess killed within the poem, but it is implied.
My Last Duchess is actually based off
real people. The Duke is Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara. His wife, Lucrezia, died
suspiciously and it is believed that the duke contributed to his young wife’s
death. In the poem, the speaker is the Duke. He takes a visitor to see some of
the artworks he had commissioned. One of the works that the Duke has is covered
by a curtain. This is the painting of the Duchess. To me, the curtain is just
as appalling as the reason for strangulation in Porphyria’s Lover. When
the Duchess was alive, she was a joyful person and would smile and laugh at the
smallest of things. The Duke was offended that she seemed to make any gift, no
matter how trivial, seem just as important as the gift of his last name. In the
painting the Duchess is smiling, but since the painting is hidden behind a
curtain that only the Duke can draw back, she now only can smile at the man
that caused her death. The Duke uses the curtain as a way to have power over
his wife, even after her death.
One of the last things the Duke points out in My
Last Duchess is a bronze sculpture of Neptune taming a wild sea-horse. This
can be looked at as a metaphor for the Duke and Duchess. This statue compares the
Duke to Neptune, a god, and the Duchess to a creature that needed to be tamed.
The longer you look over these two poems, and
the more you break down what is happening, you keep uncovering all of these
subtle meanings that make the poems darker than they appear. At first glance
both can seem light hearted, or at least neither speaker feels guilty, but as
the analysis becomes more in depth, the mental state of the speaker becomes
more clear and more twisted.
Side note: Senior year I was assigned
to research My Last Duchess and we had to include a video of someone reading
the poem outloud so here's a link you might enjoy... possibly (He makes it
creepy). He's a Shakespearean actor so that's cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53zCCVFN2yI
I agree that both poems are very dark and that the relationships in them aren't healthy. Your explanation of The last dutchess is really helpful. I was a bit confused about whether or not the narrator actually killed her or not, but it's a lot clearer now.
ReplyDeleteWow, the fact that this poem was based on a true story frightens me, but it's also cool. I also hadn't considered the impact these poems have on feminism today because I just assumed Browning was exaggerating the mindset of power hungry men. I definitely agree with your interpretation of the bronze statue. After the narrator finishes his story of why he kills his wife, he points out this statue to allude to the fact that he is Neptune in search of his next wild seahorse to tame.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Strickland also pointed out an interesting thought about us as readers. In this story, we are the messenger who simply listens to this sick story and (as far as we know) does nothing to warn the Count.