My Last Duchess And Porphyrias Lover Comparison - 858 Words

obert Browning, on the surface is a celebrated poet. But what was on the inside? We may have a glimpse into his mind through his poems. Specifically, his two poems My Last Duchess, and Porphyria’s Lover. These two texts share some startling similarities, and some thoughtful differences. â€Å"Social comparison is important.† (Festinger) Browning’s two poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover follow a similar idea, and in the following text, will be compared in three main areas. The first area of discussion is who is telling the story. In My Last Duchess, the narrator is a vastly wealthy Duke, who lives in a massive house with its own art gallery. In Porphyria’s Lover however, the narrator is a man, who we are led to believe is poor. He†¦show more content†¦This made him jealous because he believed that she was smiling at other men. On the other hand, Porphyria’s Lover woodsman jealousy is more convoluted. It’s never said up front on why he was mad. But after reading deeply into the words, one can conclude that he was upset at her power, and how she was above him. This makes sense if we look at the time that both of these poems take place in, Victorian Era England. This was a time where women, despite gaining traction, had little to no right or say in the world they lived in. Having said that, both men were more than likely overly masculine, and felt weak and startled when a woman defied their silly patriarchal rules. This is what led them to end the lives of their so-called loved ones. Finally, a major contrast is what each woman does. I briefly touched on the Duchess’ actions, but not on Porphyria’s. As previously mentioned, the Duke’s wife smiled at everything, and this angered him. A quote from the text to prove this is (She had heart-and shall I say?-too soon made glad?† (980) But what is interesting about that, is that we are told this through the Duke’s words. The Duke tells us what angered him, he lets us know why she was killed. But the woodsman in Porphyria’s Lover doesn’t directly say why, unlike his wealthy counterpart. In fact the woodsman tells us why without telling us, as Mr. McGee would say. Perhaps the woodsman doesn’t know why he killed his gal pal, maybe this is why he simply tells whatShow MoreRelatedPorphyrias Lover And My Last Duchess Comparison789 Words   |  4 PagesMeaning Of Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess (An Analysis of Comparing and Contrasting Brownings poems called Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess) Robert Browning was a Victorian poet. He portrayed an understanding of gender rules in his poems. Browning’s poems are similar to a puzzle, which makes the reader have to figure out what is really being said in the poem. Browning wrote two famous dramatic monologue poems called Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess. His poems create aRead MoreA Comparison of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning1188 Words   |  5 PagesA Comparison of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning The two poems ‘Porphyria’s lover’ and ‘my last duchess’ by Robert Browning shows a dramatic monologue. Dramatic monologue is a story that is told by one person; which means you only get one point of view; in the two poems they are based on the narrator’s crisis, his feelings and his way of thinking; and you have to believe it because that is the only view your going to encounter. In dramaticRead MoreEssay on A Comparison Between My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover2909 Words   |  12 PagesA Comparison Between My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover Works Cited Missing Robert Browning was one of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century and is still considered one of the major poets of the Victorian era. He was born in 1812 and married the privately educated poet, Elizabeth Browning, in 1846. They eloped to Florence, Italy, where his wife gaveRead MoreComparison of ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ Essay1232 Words   |  5 Pages‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ are both poems by the Victorian poet Robert Browning. In this essay I will compare these two poems to find similarities and differences. Both of these poems can be used read from different points of view and they could also be used to show how society treated women in the Nineteenth Century: as assets, possessions. Both of these poems are what are known as a dramatic monologue as well as being written in the first person. The whole poem is only one stanzaRead MoreA Comparison of the Dramatic Monologues of Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning665 Words   |  3 PagesA Comparison of the Dramatic Monologues of Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning Robert Browning (1812-89) was, with Alfred Lord Tennyson, one of the two most celebrated of Victorian poets. His father was a bank clerk, and Browning educated himself by reading in the family library. He published many verse dramas and dramatic monologues (poems, like My Last Duchess, in which a single character speaks to the reader), notably the collections Men and WomenRead MoreEssay about A Comparison of My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover1182 Words   |  5 PagesMy Last Duchess is a poem about an arrogant and extremely powerful Duke who is describing his deceased Duchess. From the word last in the title it is implied that the duke has had more than one duchess. In this poem, the Duke is extremely egotistic. He says, I choose never to stoop. The duchess would look at everyone in the world as being equal no matter what class they are. The duke however cannot do this. He is too worried about his appearance. Porphyrias Lover is a poem in whichRead MoreCompare My Last Duchess And Porphyrias Lover1098 Words   |  5 PagesLove That Kills (Comparing and Contrasting of â€Å"My Last Duchess† and â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover†) While reading the poems â€Å"My Last Duchess† and â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† by Robert Browning, there is a large possibility that you may be left haunted by the words that were written on the paper. â€Å" This is not to say that he was blandly optimistic, as he is sometimes portrayed. He wrote fully about the world s cruelty and vice and was quite frank that he had himself had no divine revelation. Nevertheless, he resolvedRead MorePorphyrias Lover And My Last Duchess Comparison Essay1440 Words   |  6 PagesComparison between Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess Browning had a place with the Victorian Age, an age where adore coincided with disarray, religion, and distress. Taking care of business, Browning is a writer of affection. His works delineate the different shades of feeling, regardless of whether it is the smooth stream of perfect otherworldly love in The Last Ride Together or the complexities of brain and nature of affection in Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess. To draw an examinationRead More Robert Browning and the Power of the Dramatic Monologue Form1432 Words   |  6 Pagespoets, allows the writer to engage more directly with his reader by placing him in the role of listener. Robert Browning utilised the form to a famously profound effect, creating a startling aspect to his poetry. In poems such as â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover,† and â€Å"My Last Duchess,† for example, Browning induces a feeling of intimacy by presenting the reader as the ‘confidant’ to the narrator’s crimes; in â€Å"Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister,† the reader is more a witness to the narrator’s increasing instabilityRead More Relationships Between Women and Men in Brownings Poems Essay2589 Words   |  11 PagesBrowning’s poems including: My Last Duchess, a dramatic monologue in which the Duke speaks to an imaginary listener about a painting of his last duchess. Porphyria’s Love, another dramatic monologue where Porphyria’s lover speaks to himself about his Love surrounded by anxiety for Porphyria and how he overcomes it. Meeting at Night, which dramatizes the excitement and intensity of passion, the feeling of tense anticipation as the poet travels to meet his lover. However, Parting at Morning