Elizabeth Browning Research Paper

Sonnet 43, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, is a classic love story written to explain how she feels about love. How Do I Love Thee, has a variety of interpretations, a multitude of symbols, follows an iambic pentameter, and tells the reader a story. Browning does all of this in a fourteen-line sonnet that she wrote for her beloved husband. To understand this, the reader has to make interpretations on their own.

keeps a “curtain” drawn in front of it so that no one but he can see

Thus the Duchess is bound to the Duke and has become imprisoned within his art collection as nothing more than a possession. The Duke exemplifies this view when he makes reference to another piece of his art collection, as if the current and previous subjects of his monologue were completely analogous, “Notice Neptune, though/ Taming a sea horse, thought a rarity/ Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me! (Browning 54-56), he truly appreciates both pieces with similar enthusiasm. Although the Duchess is allocated no space to give her side of the story, through the Duke’s depiction the reader can infer that she was killed for having her own free will and as such there is zero doubt that she is a victim of imprisonment of the Duke’s egocentric ideals. While he puts an adulterous spin on her actions, by declaring:

The writer of this poem Robert Browning is a master at captivating the potential of the dramatic monologue, here art is expressed by symbolism and it is used as a structure for the poem. The speaker of this poem who is the Duke holds himself in high esteem and loves the control his position gives him as an authority. Accordingly, the Duke shows admiration for his former wife who he killed when he says “that’s my last duchess on the wall” (line 1). Here he admires her more as an object of art than he did in reality. The Duke uses art as an image that symbolizes his control and dominance over his former wife; more so he not only uses the painting of his wife to express his control but also the sculpture of Neptune “taming a sea-horse” (line 55) as an image at the end to emphasize and make his point clear that he is very controlling and possessive. Aside from the

The romantic period was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that occurred between 1800-1850 in Europe. The romantic period influenced Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s writing because it was a time of idealism, emotional passion, and individualism. In her collection of poems, “Sonnets From the Portuguese,” she shows her love for another poet, Robert Browning. In “Sonnet 43.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning illustrates the love she has for her suitor through imagery and repetition. Which represents how the time period was reflected in her works.

The Victorian period became one of the greatest influential times in literature. The characteristics of Victorian literature were detailed realism, social responsibility and enthusiasm for reforms. During the Victorian period, people saw the birth of industrialization. Enormous changes occurred in the political and social life in England. Nevertheless the industrial revolution was the birth of technical and scientific ideology. Europe during this time saw the increase in wealth but also the increase in poverty. In addition Factors played a big role in the wealth of Europe because of the ability of mass production. The Victorian period was also a time of transition when women and kids were allowed to work in factors because fathers were not able to provide on their own. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a poet who was

Robert Browning was a nineteenth century writer and poet whose works are famous worldwide.One of his poems that has been analyzed constantly is "My Last Duchess," a dramatic monologue of a Duke who is talking to the count's messenger about wedding arrangements through speaking about his last Duchess.He started off as simple,then his superiority complex took him over.

Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess” is an exemplary dramatic monologue written in 1842. As the poem disentangles, the readers discover that the poem’s speaker, Duke Ferra, is having a talk with a representative of his wife’s family. Duke is talking while standing before a portrait belonging to that of his last wife who is deceased. The theme of the Duke’s talk focuses on the woman’s imperfections and failings. The poem’s irony becomes conspicuous as the readers learn that the ‘faults’ of the young was as a result of her kindness (Kuiper & Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995). The lady is said to have qualities such as politeness, companion, delight in simple desires, humbleness, and courteous to servants. In this poem, “My Last Duchess” poet Browning explores the theme of power, jealousy, and madness.

“My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” are two mind boggling tales that relate in many ways. Two of which, they are both written by Robert Browning and from a male’s point of view. The Duke in “My Last Duchess” gives off a controlling, jealous, and arrogant vibe towards the Duchess which results in her death. The man in “Porphyria’s Lover” is angry and irritated because the woman he loves will not divorce her husband which also ends with her death. The poems “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” demonstrate two different relationships with women while both men view women as objects.

Poetry has always been known as a beautiful form of art. However, the things that make the poems so stunning are the life experiences the poets go through. A woman named Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Durham, England in 1806. She had a great interest in writing, and soon wrote her first poem in Greek when she was 12. When she was 38 she published a book of poetry titled Poems, which gained her a tremendous amount of fame, resulting in her becoming one of the most famous writers of England. This eventually caught the eye of a poet named Robert Browning. He wrote a letter to her, eventually leading to them falling in love. They were married on September 12,1846. Elizabeth died on June 29, 1861. In “Sonnet 43” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the author expresses many of her life experiences in it, making it very emotional. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s life experiences influenced her poetry by filling her poems with great love and sadness.

Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812. Raised and born in Camberwell, England. Intelligent man he surely was. His mother was an accomplished pianist and a devout evangelical Christian. She had so much faith and provided him with a lifelong belief in the existence of God. His father worked as a bank clerk also an artist, scholar, antiquarian, and collector of books and pictures. Browning had a wife name Elizabeth. They got married in 1846. Although Robert’s father did not approve the marriage, they still went ahead and got married. After their marriage, the Browning left London for Italy, and they made Casa Guidi in Florence their home from 1847 until 1861. It was there that their son, Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning, was born on March 9, 1849.

The first two lines of the poem introduces us to the main topic of the duke speech and gives the reader a hint that there’s seems to be something wrong “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive” the reader begins to suspect that the duchess is no longer alive. Browning uses clever language in theses lines of the poem to foreshadow that the duke assassinated the duchess, in which later on in the poem the reader realizes that he did so. In lines 45, 46, and 47 the following is written, “This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together. There she stands as if alive” The reader comes to the conclusion that the duke assassinated the duchess, illustrating that the duke is a cruel man who will give the command to get ride of whatever disturbs him, in this case the duchess. But, what did the duchess do that disturbed him so

In MLD, Browning employs the Duke as narrator, developing the reader’s perception of his personality through use of language and literary devices. As a result, the Duke inadvertently portrays himself as egocentric, proprietorial and at times arrogant, psychotic and paranoid. He refers to the painting of his late wife as “my last Duchess”, with the possessive pronoun ‘my’ indicating the Duchess is just another of his possessions. This element of the Duke’s

“Porphyria's Lover” and “My Last Duchess” were just two of Robert Browning’s short dramatic monologues. In this poem, “My Last Duchess”, a husband talks about a portrait of his deceased wife. He tells how she was far too happy with everybody, and nothing could change that. “Porphyria’s Lover” is a short poem involving a man and his wife, they seem to be getting along until the husband strangles her with her own hair. These two Browning poems will be compared and contrasted in these next few paragraphs.

How does Browning tell the story of “My Last Duchess” in the first thirteen lines?