By George Cadogan
A comparison between "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning.
"My 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.
"Porphyria's Lover" is a poem in which a man describes an evening in which his lover, Porphyria, visits him and he unexpectedly murders her. In this it is unlike "My Last Duchess" because Porphyria 'worships' her lover unlike the Duke
From the title "My Last Duchess", we immediately learn that this is a personal poem to the duke. It is a love and murder poem. It is a dramatic monologue and is written as a single stanza.
Both poems also have a silent listener. In 'My Last Duchess' the silent listener is the Ambassador for the Count, who is the father of the Duke's next bride whereas in 'Porphyria's Lover' the silent listener could be a number of people it could be a police officer, or he could just be telling the story to a friend. There is no evidence in the poem, which tells the reader who he is talking to.
A comparison between "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning.
"My 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.
"Porphyria's Lover" is a poem in which a man describes an evening in which his lover, Porphyria, visits him and he unexpectedly murders her. In this it is unlike "My Last Duchess" because Porphyria 'worships' her lover unlike the Duke
From the title "My Last Duchess", we immediately learn that this is a personal poem to the duke. It is a love and murder poem. It is a dramatic monologue and is written as a single stanza.
Both poems also have a silent listener. In 'My Last Duchess' the silent listener is the Ambassador for the Count, who is the father of the Duke's next bride whereas in 'Porphyria's Lover' the silent listener could be a number of people it could be a police officer, or he could just be telling the story to a friend. There is no evidence in the poem, which tells the reader who he is talking to.