The speaker also puts up a false impression of love and respect to women in order to lure her to sleep with him. We see this when he says “Thy beauty shall no more be found;” he is saying how she won’t be beautiful once she is dead, so why waste that beauty and just sleep with him. Also soon after this sentence, he threatens her with “then worms shall try // That long-preserved virginity:” here, he is saying how if she doesn’t sleep with him she will die. The word “long” emphasis on how precious her virginity is and how she is to him. It could also reflect his sense of frustration, and hint at his real motive for wanting to be with her. This whole idea of her dying brings in the fact that the speaker is inpatient and hasty because he is worried about his time running out. There is a colon which makes you continue and read fast which makes it seem as if time is running out. This shows how men only care for themselves, as the speaker cares more about time getting him so he must sleep with this girl rather then sleeping with her for love. This idea is further proven when he says, “But at my back I always hear // Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.” This shows how he is frightened that his love won’t last forever. He personifies time as a winged chariot that is just behind him, he does this because he is scared that time is just behind him and he does not have much time left. This could suggest that this man is older than this young woman, and has realised that he hasn’t done enough with his life.
The attitudes of the characters differ a huge amount. For the Duke, women are like objects, so he does not really have much concern about how they feel. He has an arrogant idea that women are not important so he has a sort of ‘you respect me because I am a man’ attitude towards them. They must respect and love only him. The speaker however, has a false attitude of love and respect, and keeps saying how women are needed to continue life, but underneath this mask, he really only thinks of them as sex objects, who he needs to give him pleasure in his lonely pitiful life. His pitiful life is shown throughout because time is running out for him, and he wants this woman now, because he hasn’t done anything with his life, we get this sense because of how desperate the man is. The Duke shows us his real attitudes towards women when he says, “That piece a wonder now:” Here we can see that he sees his ex-wife as a piece of artwork that people look at, and the word ‘wonder’ also shows how he prefers her as one. This is also shown throughout the poem because he doesn’t really make any comments about how good or ‘wonderful’ she was, as if he didn’t know as he didn’t pay much attention to her. The way he sees her as a piece of artwork is further proven towards the end, when he says, “Notice Neptune, taming a sea-horse.” This shows that she is just part of his artwork collection, and he is moving on as if in a gallery looking at art. This could also be seen as if his real self has been uncovered, and he is trying to change the subject quickly as to avert the envoy from the painting. It is also another example of control and how much the Duke loves control, by having a sort of ‘tribute’ towards it.
The speaker uses his manipulative technique to persuade the woman, we see this when he says, “This coyness, Lady, were no crime.” Here, by calling here ‘Lady’ we see his false respect for her. It also shows us his is a gentleman and has been well educated. We also see this respect, when he says “And should, if you please, refuse” Here, he is saying how she has the right to reject his offer. The way he says it, shows us that he if asking, and makes it seem to her that he is a real gentleman who cares for her. Also, during the poem, he is basically saying that he will only love her if she sleeps with him, this is shown here, “Two hundred to adore each brest.” Here, although he is praising her beauty, he is talking about her sexual features as if saying he will love her more if he can see them. This shows us again how Marvell’s interpretations of men are only that they are interested in themselves, and how all they want from a girl is pleasure.
The Duke is jealous and obsessed with status. In contrast to this, the speaker lies, and seems to like the girl, but only for pleasure. We see the Duke’s feelings, when he says, “Fra Pandolf’s hands // Worked busily a day, and there she stands.” We see that he only knows good by price, and shows off his wealth to the envoy. Also this is proof that he objectifies his wife as a painting to look at rather than a woman. In addition, we see the Duke’s jealously when he says, “She had a heart-how shall I say-too soon made glad // Too easily impressed.” He is jealous because the artist was nice to her and she was nice back. This respect and kindness the other people gave her is something the Duke didn’t do to his wife, so he got angry when she smiled back at the artist, as he never received smiles from his wife. The caesuras show us his anger, as they are there as if he was holding back his anger at the thought of it, and is a slip up of his false appearance as a loving husband. This also shows us how possessive he was, because he only wanted his wife to smile and please him.
The ‘Too easily impressed;” suggests the poet’s point of view of the Duke as a very patronising man, who judges his wife on her attitudes towards other men. This suggests he actually knew her but his judgement seems far more superficial. We also see the Duke’s self-control slip and his real self as a possessive person is partially revealed.
We see the speaker’s respect for the woman’s body rather then her individuality when he says, “My vegetable love should grow.” This phallic symbol shows us that he is just talking to her because he wants to have sex with her. It shows us that he only wants her because of her beauty. This is shown because for his ‘vegetable love to grow’, he would need to be aroused by her beauty. There is also a small section (lines 14-18), which he devotes to praising her bodily features. An example of this is one from before “Two hundred to adore each brest.” This could either shows that he is only interested in her body and if just flattering in her sexual features to get hold of her. However it could mean that it would take so long to praise each part of her body (each line starts with a large number of years to praise each part). This is further proven by the last part of this section “And the last age should show your heart.” This he adds in as part of his false persona to make it seem as though he loves her.
The ways in which both the men go about achieving their aim are different. The Duke talks to the envoy about what he expected from his wife, and what she did not do. He shows off about his status and wealth, and tells the envoy how he does not understand why she did not pay a lot of attention to him. The speaker, flatters the lady, but also threatens her by talking of death and creating horrible images. He also shows off about his male features. We see the Duke’s aim to please his ex-wife when he says, “as if she ranked // My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name // With anybody’s gift.” Here, he shows off about his wealth and how he doesn’t understand why she didn’t appreciate it. It also shows us his self-importance and how he is only defined by position. The last line, “Which Claus of Imsbruck cast in bronze for me”, further proves that he again is more concerned about wealth than being a good person. The word ‘me’ shows how proud he is to be rich by telling us that it was done for him.
The speaker, attempts to persuade her by delighting her with compliments such as, “Now, therefore, while the youthful hue // Sits on thy skin like morning hue.” He uses a simile to show her bloom of youth, but then says how time will take it away. This is to try and tell her that she will not be beautiful forever, so he can get hold of her now. His use of ‘now’ shows his urgency and how impatient he is, this is repeated during the poem to emphasize that. He also, assumes he has won the argument. This is shown when he says, “And while thy willing soul transpires.” He assumes she is ‘willing’, which shows how bigheaded he is. The poet is trying to show how disrespectful men are, and how they do not let the woman’s voice be heard, as if he has made the decision and that is final.
I think the Duke has scared the envoy, which we see when at the end, just before the Duke says, “Nay we’ll go // Together down sir.” The envoy, due to the Duke’s reaction seems to have asked to leave. This is because now that the Duke’s real self has been discovered, he feels uncomfortable being with him. Although he has scared the envoy, I still think the Duke will marry the Count’s daughter because of his wealth and high status. What the poet is trying to say in this is that money and power can buy anything, apart from love.
The speaker, I think does not manage to persuade the woman to sleep with him. This can be seen in the way he says the last stanza. It is much quicker paced with only three sentences that shows he is getting frustrated. Also the use of ‘now’ shows us his hurry, as if he is starting to run out of persuasive ideas, and the ones he has used has not worked. Another thing could be the woman’s silence throughout the poem; this could be a sign of protest and rejection, as if from the start she already knew what he really wanted. Another way this could be interpreted is to show how women had no say in those times, and how their opinion did not matter.
I think that Robert Browning wrote this poem to show us how corrupt his time was. At the time, people were obsessed with order and were living in a particular way. He did not agree with this, and the poem shows us why. The Duke is a character defined by rank, and he uses him to make a criticism about how the world has become too preoccupied with other things, and have forgotten what love is. Also, when Browning wrote this poem, women were expected to follow orders from their husband, and be an object for their convenience, this is what Browning didn’t like, he believed that love was the greatest relationship and the best experience, but people had forgotten. Andrew Marvell wrote this poem, to show the world how disrespectful men are to women. In his time, that was what people expected from women, and women, (who didn’t seem to have much of a voice) couldn’t really argue about it. Marvell wrote this to mock men because they are as vulnerable and fragile as women. Also how women are vital to men, and so should be treated with respect. Both Browning and Marvell point out how sexist the community they lived in was, and engage in a struggle to bring equality and love into the world.