This document provides a thorough analysis of the selection of Robert Browning's poems from Poetic Voices' anthology. It splits each analysis into themes such as narrative, phonology, state of mind and views on others. These sections are helpful when planning answers to exam questions as they follo...
My Last Duchess
Sense of Others
★ The addressee is clearly defined at the start of the poem but the nature of his role
isn’t revealed until the end of the poem where we find out the Duke is planning on
remarrying. This creates shock and tension at the end when it is revealed.
★ The envoy is spoken to with respect shown through the use of the honorific ‘sir’.
However the effect of this is belittled by the use of negation and modality to limit
the envoys choice. This makes the mode of address sarcastic.
○ The Duke regards them as equals when he says “we’ll go together down,
Sir” which actually emphasises that they are not equals, The Duke is making
the decisions.
★ The Duchess is like a child, she enjoys simplistic pleasures and appears very
innocent. However, the Duke’s delusional frame of mind means he wished for her to
be seen as the cause of the events he depicts. There is a sense of irony in this as the
Duke appears jealous at her eyes wondering about other things yet she is so
innocent that she clearly has no ill intentions but he kills her anyway.
★ There’s a sense of chauvinism in this poem as the woman has had her voice taken
from her and is being objectified. She is identified through her physical
characteristics and these are used to represent her emotions without any
consideration of causation
○ The possessive pronoun “my” both in the title and throughout the poem
shows how he sees her as an object which also shows his god complex. The
adverb “last” is ambiguous (does it mean last ever or last previous) This also
shows his world view and how he sees women as commodities- easily
thrown away.
Poetic Voice
★ Questions demonstrate an active attempt to recall the past. We are not given any
time frame of when the murder took place and the interrogatives mean the Duke
has contemplated the past and probably allowed his retrospective reflections to
influence his memories of the Duchess; this makes the narrative unreliable.
★ He comes across as eloquent and charismatic which makes his brutal beliefs even
more harrowing as he seems unfazed by it.
★ His inability to communicate his feelings suggests he is ill at ease
★ “That’s”- the determiner is an example of spatial deixis, we cannot see what he is
pointing at but allows the reader to know there is a conversation. The word “that” is
hard and aggressive foregrounding the terrible events and also reinforcing the
Duke’s power
★ He has a god complex- he will “never stoop” to anyone including his ex-wife. This
idea of hierarchy linking with height plays into the idea of the great chain of being.
, He is above both socially and, in this poem, physically as he made the envoy sit
down
Tellability
★ High tellability due to the direct address of the envoy which shows his
determination to tell the story
★ He makes the envoy sit which enhances his power over him due to the physical
height difference but also shows how this is a story and not just a conversation
★ The poem is written as one verse and the regular rhyming (iambic pentameter)
pattern shows how it’s been constructed and thought out (just like the murder). It
also suggests the poem has been told before
Form
★ The dramatic monologue means the poet is unable to offer overt judgement about
the speaker. The reader has to discover them for themselves and the poet is forced
to create composite characters.
○ The envoy acts as a silent interlocutor of the poem and, although he never
says anything, his presence shapes the narrative of the poem
Place
★ Place seems important in this poem due to the mention of the location of the Duke’s
dwelling (Ferrara) at the top of the poem and the prepositional phrase “on the wall”.
○ The painting is an incarnation of the Duchess and the source of his
memories. This establishes the dynamic language between place and time,
and how memories can be ground into particular places, altering the
speaker’s perception of them
★ The speaker’s description of the Duchess in relation to the setting creates a sense of
movement and journeying throughout the palace. It makes the poem more
harrowing that the revealed events took place in a setting that usually would
connote domestic comfort
, The Lost Leader
Metre
★ Like a drum, didactic, trying to get a point across, leading other people into
battle/rebellion
○ “We shall march prospering” reinforces the idea of hope. Now their view on
Wordsworth has changed they can move on. There is a sense of
determination
★ ABAB but broken showing the broken relationship of Wordsworth (he) and the
liberals (us)
○ The regular rhyme scheme at the start symbolises the original union and the
disjointed rhyme to follow shows the break. Dactylic tetrameter
Pronouns
★ The pronoun system establishes a degree of ambiguity as we are unaware of
exactly who is being talked about. The definite determiner “the” reflects the
personal nature of the speaker’s relationship with the ‘he’
★ Browning uses ‘he’ and ‘us’ to put Wordsworth in his own group, othering him from
everyone else
★ He uses a ‘they’ as well which represents authority figures- as he is not grouping
Wordsworth with them it shows Browning is insulting him and alienating him from
either group showing his disdain and disappointment
★ “One” is a repeated count noun which belittles the significance of the event and
demonstrates the act of reflecting on painful memories- also applies a sense of
tragedy; a loss for many
Lexis and Semantics
★ Semantics of war- elevating a petty squabble. Death- it’s like a eulogy to
Wordsworth, he is dead to Browning, as if Browning wants to remember
Wordsworth as he was before. Christianity- linking to popular ideology of the time
to strengthen his point and uses it to justify his anger and feelings of betrayal
★ Military extended metaphor through rhyme scheme and through reference to “the
van and the freeman”, and through the religious imagery which alludes to death
★ Lexical ambiguity through the word lost: it might refer to metaphorical or literal lost.
★ First person plural pronouns suggest that the addressee holds commitment to a
shared vision. Gives the poem a degree of tellability
★ The metaphorical imperative phrase “blot out his name” is significant. “Blot”
connotes carelessness which highlights Browning’s disrespect/disregard for
Wordsworth. This is reinforced through the use of negation throughout
★ Personification of “fortune” allows us to sympathise with the speaker and his
community, clearly victimised
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