The first hint to his very possessive character may be seen in the line, "because none puts by/the curtain I have drawn for you buy I," (Line 9-10) which begs the question of why his wife's painting should be kept behind a curtain and only be seen with his permission. Other subliminal cues include common expressions like "they would ask me, if they durst,"(Line 11) which implies that others around him are too awestruck to challenge him. The duke's carefully controlled speech conveys a sense of escalating rage as he lists the faults of his ex-wife: "She had/A heart, how shall I say? - too soon made glad," (Line 21-22) which reaches a peak in his ego at the revelation that she compared "My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name/With anybody's gift." (Line 33-34) The frightening emphasis on "anybody's" is nearly audible. Ferrara's speech comes across to the reader as being convincing and ominous in its meaning despite the rhymed couplets.
At the peak of his rage, the duke utters the sharp plosive "disgusts," (Line 38) but his nearly superhuman reserve and pride make it difficult for him to express his dissatisfaction. As he defends his refusal to compromise his dignity by taming his attractive wife's enthusiasm, his discourse devolves into disdainful dismissal. Instead, he "commands,"(Line 45) and then "all grins stopped together." (Line 46) In other words, the duke got rid of his wife, and this is the whole point of the monologue: to subtly warn the next wife about the kinds of behaviors he thinks are appropriate for a wife and what will happen if his wishes are not followed.
The duke emphasizes his confidence by deftly shifting the focus of his audience from one object of art to another one of his valuables, this time a priceless bronze. In actuality, Browning uses dramatic monologue to craft a very realistic portrait of a figure who is very enigmatic. He shows the inner workings of a character's psyche, his values, likes, and motivations by fusing the lyric and dramatic forms. The dramatic irony, of course, is that although the duke attempts to leave his listener with an absolutely positive picture of himself and an entirely negative impression of his previous duchess, Browning really succeeds in leaving the reader with the exact opposite impression.
The mythical Ulysses, the protagonist of Tennyson's dramatic monologue, is a slightly more sympathetic character, but he is nonetheless self-centered. He talks somberly to his wife and kid after returning from his epic adventures in Ithaca, lamenting his present inaction among "the silent hearth"(Tennyson Line 2) and the "barren crags" (Line 2) of his surroundings, which are symbolic of stagnation and death. In reality, the poem is rife with images of death. He expresses his desire to go back to that existence, where he was "always roaming with a hungry heart," (Line 12) for one more time. Unfortunately, his devoted wife and child, much less his subordinate followers, whom he refers to as "a savage race," (Line 4) are unable to quench his soul's need for adventure.
His past achievements have given him a sense of pride in his notoriety as well as a desire to live life to the fullest. His accounts of his former triumphs conjure up images that bring his present unhappiness into brighter, clearer focus. The alliterative imagery seems to emphasize his drive and his yearning to venture into the unknown in pursuit of "knowledge,"(line 31) which is related with that virtually imperceptible phenomenon "a sinking star,"(Line 31) despite his advanced years. He speaks of his "hungry heart"(Line 13) and his "drunk delight."(Line16)
Ulysses appears content enough to leave his son to carry out the latter in his place because he wants to "shine"(Line 23) as he did in in his younger years rather than "rust." (Line 23) It appears that Telemachus will make a good ruler but lacks his father's sense of adventure. His dismissal of his son's 'slow prudence'(Line 36) and mildness with scorn does not endear him to the reader. But it's unclear if the poet views Ulysses as a hero or an egotistical figure based on this mentality. Tennyson maintains a total emotional distance from his persona and disallows any traces of bias in his portrayal, allowing the words of his persona to speak for themselves.
The tone of the poem changes in the poem's final section, which uses distinctly heroic language. " To seek, to see, to find, and not to yield" (line70) becomes a powerful rallying cry for his warriors as it becomes much more speech like, regardless of the fact that his crew is aging just like he is, he recognizes in them the qualities he finds in himself and instructs them to seek knowledge and virtue, or perhaps "the Happy Isles," (Line 63) where they can reunite with legendary figures like Achilles, whom the gods transposed there and gave immortality. Perhaps there is uncertainty in Ulysses about what the future holds, and such concepts can elevate the poem to elegiac heights.
Tennyson allowed himself this license by drawing from both Homer and Dante as well as his own morose state of mind due to the tragic loss of his friend. Reflections on death would be natural in any elderly person and by making Ulysses an old man, Tennyson’s dramatic monologue is all the more convincing and effective. It also makes the reader re-appraise the hero’s motivations and sympathies with his insatiable restlessness and yearning to discover something, which is beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
Both poets employ the dramatic monologue style to delve into the true motivations of two extraordinary, legendary figures. Both are driven at least in part by self-interest, while one uses his position to further his own merciless purposes and the other explores a more noble impulse.
Lord Tennyson, Alfred. “Ulysses” The Victorian Age, tenth ed., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2018, pp. 156-158
Browning, Robert. “The Last Duchess” The Victorian Age, tenth ed., W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 2018, pp. 328-329
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