How are the relationships between men and women represented in "My Last Duchess", "First Love" and "How do I love thee"?
How are the relationships between men and women represented in "My Last Duchess", "First Love" and "How do I love thee"?
The poems "My Last Duchess" (1842), by Robert Browning, "First Love" (1821), by John Clare and "How do I love thee" (1850), by Elizabeth Barrett Browning are all concerned with the relationships between men and women. These poems all portray the relationships in different ways and present love and the consequences falling in love has, in different ways. In the first poem "My Last Duchess", the Duke is in control, he is a very proud man. The Duke is very confident and this makes him arrogant. The relationship in this poem is portrayed as unequal and it is dominated by pride and not love. The Duke speaks very formally, this links with his power and pride; he also doesn't show any emotion in his words. In the second poem "First Love", the woman is in control, the man is broken hearted because his first love is over, and it has not been sustained. It is unrequited love; because of this the relationship is ambiguous. The poem "How do I love thee" presents a positive relationship. The woman reinforces how much she loves him, and nothing can get in the way. It is written in the form of a sonnet, which is a traditional form of love poems.
"My Last Duchess" begins with the speaker showing off the portrait of the Duchess.
"That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive. I call, that piece a wonder, now"
The Duke is addressing his guest and it almost feels like he is speaking to the reader. This quote shows the love that the Duke felt for his Duchess, through these words it sounds like he is almost praising her.
In "My Last Duchess" the Duke talks in a formal tone, like he is proud or sure of himself.
"My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name".
This suggests the Duke is aware of his high status, and full of his own importance, which gives him an air of arrogance. The Duchess did not show she was grateful for the special gift that the Duke gave to her. She ranked his gift as she did anyone else's. The Duke's relationship with his last wife was very negative; their relationship was more about pride than love. He describes his last wife as a flirt, "she looked and her looks went everywhere". This implies the Duchess was a very happy lady and must have liked everyone because she smiled at many people, this could also indicate she was quite content and also enjoyed the attention of other men. The Duke refers to the Duchess as a mere object; this insinuates that he did not think very highly of her.
"At starting, is my object".
Throughout the poem the Duke refers to the Duchess as an object, he makes his wife sound like one of his possessions, like an old sock, something he can control. As we approach the end of the poem the Duke reveals that the Duchess was murdered. The Duke may have personally killed her, or paid someone else to do his work.
"All smiles stopped together".
If the Duke did kill the Duchess this may be because he was jealous of her behaviour towards other men. The Duke obviously did not like her behaviour, if he'd stoop as low to kill her. He must have had really negative feelings towards her; this is also shown when he repeatedly regarded his wife as an object.
In "First Love" the man is the more active part in the relationship. All the love is coming from him, this is known as unrequited because he is not loved back. The ...
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"All smiles stopped together".
If the Duke did kill the Duchess this may be because he was jealous of her behaviour towards other men. The Duke obviously did not like her behaviour, if he'd stoop as low to kill her. He must have had really negative feelings towards her; this is also shown when he repeatedly regarded his wife as an object.
In "First Love" the man is the more active part in the relationship. All the love is coming from him, this is known as unrequited because he is not loved back. The narrator is really gloomy and his life hurts, this quote shows this.
"My life and all seemed turned to clay".
He feels like his life is over and he is finding it very hard, this is making him out of control. He is being controlled by love, and too much of it. The man doesn't reveal much about his relationship to the woman, just that it was very intense and perfect.
The author's love for her husband is very strong in "How do I love thee". During the poem she talks about how much she loves him and nothing can get in the way. "How do I love you" is made more convincing because it includes a lot of persuasive techniques.
"I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise".
This quote uses a capital P, Elizabeth Barrett Browning is honouring God in words, and in the 1800's religion was an important part of life and this would have made this poem a lot more believable. The narrator loves this man cleanly and nothing will stop her loving him.
"I love".
Elizabeth Barrett Browning repeatedly uses this quote throughout the poem; this is because it is a persuasive device. By repeating these words it is bringing the poem to life and making it more enjoyable for an audience. The narrator is increasing the impact and effectiveness of making her key points stand out.
In the poems the attitudes vary and different expectations about the relationship between men and women are presented in the poems. In first love the mood is bleak and barren, but in "How do I love thee" the relationship is overly pleasant and there is a sense of gleeful love. These two poems attract each other, as one is positive and the other negative. However, "My last duchess" is rather different and hangs in the middle because it is unemotional. The Duke doesn't show he is mournful towards his last Duchess but instead he boasts that she's gone.
The Duke speaks in the poem "My Last Duchess" and he is addressing an envoy. The Duke is having a conversation with the envoy trying to organise a marriage. However, he ends up hypothesizing how the conversation went between Fra Pandolf and his wife. It is set in Italy and all the events happen in the Duke's mansion or castle. The poem is not being read, but spoken in the form of enjambment. This is like a story but the Duke's thoughts are not completed within the line, instead they carry on to the next line.
It was written in the Victorian era (19th century) but set in Renaissance (16th century). The poem wanted to show that the Duke wanted to re-marry again; it was about the life of Robert Browning. He created a colourful character and placed him at a historical scene, this being the Italian Renaissance. The renaissance was fascinating for Browning, as it represented the flowering of the human and in some cases was about religion. It is a temporal setting where Browning explores violence, sex and aesthetics, which are all very confusing. The setting of "My Last Duchess" influences the way the reader sees the narrator, as the Renaissance was a time when morally corrupt men like the Duke exercised complete power. This makes it a really interesting study for the Victorians, as the Duchess's portrait couldn't have been evil in it's social control even though it put men like the Duke in power. This poem keeps the reader involved because you have to piece the story together on your own. The narrator forces the reader to become involved in the poem in order that you can understand it. This makes the poem really amusing to read. The poem is full of exquisite language and a dominant dramatic development.
In "My Last Duchess" the Duke is speaking in the poem and it is addresses to an envoy.
"Will't please you sit and look at her? I said"
The Duke is obviously talking to someone, as he wouldn't be talking to himself. The Duke is bragging because he isn't letting the other person speak. In "First Love" the man is talking, he uses rhetorical questions to involve the audience. In "How do I love thee" the woman is talking and she is happily married, but unwell. The poems differ slightly as in "My Last Duchess" the Duke is in control and he is proud and of high status. Whereas in "First Love" the woman is in control as she has changed John Clare's ideas about love, and he is now being controlled. In "How do I love thee" there is a bit of authority from both the man and the woman. Elizabeth Barrett Browning loves her husband abundantly and she loves him more and more each day. Robert Browning is the one secretly controlling her as she needs him but doesn't reveal it to him.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses the sonnet form to describe her love to her husband. This is because it is a traditional way to write a poem with the theme of love. This poem is really simple but the heart pours out its emotions with every word. The sonnet includes iambic pentameter with a reinforcing rhyme scheme and quatrains and sestets. These all support her message and get it across in a much clearer way.
"My Last Duchess" is in rhyming couplets, and there is a lot of enjambment used. Enjambment is where there is punctuation before the end of a line. The speakers thoughts are not completed within a line, instead they carry on to the next. Enjambment is good for creating a feel of naturalistic motion. Robert Browning uses enjambment effectively to create natural sounding conversations. The mood of the poem changes throughout, although it is very unemotional his mood flickers. From around lines 15 on to around 25 he hypothesizes how the conversation went between Fra Pandolf and his wife. After this he moves on to what really happened. The very first word of the poem "That's" makes the poem sound like an everyday speech, which possesses the informality of construction found in a conversation. This makes the poem random but more natural.
The Duke begins reminiscing about the portrait sessions, then about the Duchess herself. His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behaviour, he claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his nine hundred year old gift. He must have been really angry with her for not showing him she loved him and appreciated him. Perhaps the Duke felt lonely and like she had betrayed him. As the poem continues we realize that the Duke in fact caused the Duchess's early demise.
"When her behaviour escalated, I gave commands, then all smiles stopped together".
The Duke shows he has been feelings towards the Duchess, but he is still cheerful and being boastful about everything.
In "My Last Duchess" there are a lot of language devices used to contribute to the mood and tones of the poems. The Duke uses a lot of old fashioned words, which make him, sound confident and his way of talking is very sophisticated. The Duke is very self-confident.
"And you turn and ask thus, Sir, 'twas not"
The Duke talks very formally which reflects on his social status.
"---".
This means that someone else is talking, it's like a pause or a hesitation, and this makes the speech really clear.
"Will't please you sit and look at her?"
The poet uses this quote to create the impression that the duke is speaking to someone. Robert Browning uses a lot of other features like alliteration, personification and hyperbole. These are used to describe the poem in a more valuable quality.
The language devices used by John Clare in "First Love" show that love and the relationship it creates between men and woman is ambiguous. The poets most used language device is the rhetorical questions, these show his passion and reflect on the relationship he had. He also uses a lot of pronouns,
"My face turned pale as deadly pale" and "as that I stood before"
These pronouns make the poem a lot more emotional as it makes the poem more personal to him.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses endless amounts of repetition to get her message across in "How do I love thee". Repetition has helped bring the poem alive and made it more enjoyable for an audience to read. Repetition is a very powerful language device and the poet has used it very effectively. Additionally Elizabeth Barrett Browning has used abstract and concrete nouns to describe the feelings she has for her husband. The use of nouns emphasizes the profligacy, passion and purity of love, which comes from the poem.
In all three poems there are a variety of language devices used. They all use different devices but for similar effects. The poet's use of these features makes the poems more believable and reinforcing. The use of language in the poems gives you extra information as they go into more depth; this makes the poems of higher quality and will keep the reader involved throughout.
"My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning is written in the form of a dramatic monologue. Browning captures the authentic speaking voice of the Duke well, the speaker talks about his last wife pointing to a painting of her on the wall. Robert Browning is being critical of the Duke through the way he portrays him, this poem is ironic because it says more than what actually is been said. The Duke wanted to bring the Duchess's beauty within his control, and he was willing to destroy her to do it. The irony in this poem allows the reader to question themselves and desire to know the hidden message. Robert Browning shows the reader how the Duke needs to have control and complete power, and he causes a weariness to overcome the reader though irony. The Duke is shown as commanding, attentive and very arrogant. The imagery in this poem produces the desired haunting effect. The painting of the Duchess will always live long after her death, as men will continue to look and admire the Duchess, who in turn will continue to smile down at them. This means that the Duke will not be able to control her forever. At the end of the poem, it feels as if the Duchess was just an object to the Duke. While the Duke shows his guest the picture and tells his story, he then just moves on to another artefact, as if the Duchess was not important to him anymore. However, at the time of this poem woman were not viewed as people, but as property. This would make the Duke just another dignified posh English royal of the time.
"First Love" was a rather ambiguous poem where John Clare saw a beautiful woman and he felt for the first time the emotion of love. He went in to great detail and described how his emotions were in total turmoil and left him unable to walk.
"My legs refused to walk away".
The girl has a real physical effect on the man, and it is like there is too much love involved.
The poem "How do I love thee" presented a positive relationship. The woman reinforces how much she loves him, and nothing can get in the way. Elizabeth Barrett Browning is realistic about love and this makes the poem even more powerful. It uses many poetic elements such as alliteration, imagery and some metaphors. She really explores her feelings and shows a lot of emotional confidence. It's like she is trying to convey her love towards the man in a serious but passionate way.
To sum up it is the historical, social and cultural context of the poems that influences the presentation of the relationships.