Second Poem My Last Duchess example essay topic

Love poetry often portrays an image of intimacy, an unbreakable bond between a man and a woman; this however is not always the case. The two poems by Robert Browning, "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" are very different from what you would typically expect of a love poem. Each poem involves a murder. The first poem, "Porphyria's Lover" is set in a small cottage isolated in a wilderness of trees, which is more suited to the horror genre, as is the weather. It is a stormy night: "The rain set early in tonight" It reflects the man's mood perfectly which is cold and gloomy so from the first couple of lines we realise that the mood of the poem is sullen, not blissful as is usually the setting of a classic love poem. When Porphyria walks in the mood is lifted.

It is clear she is in control of the atmosphere as she lights up a fire, warming the cottage then seductively undresses herself in front of him: "She shut out the cold and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up and all the cottage warm" The whole situation is based around the need for control, as shown with the extensive use of pronouns throughout the poem: "She put my arm about her waist, and made her smooth white shoulder bare" At this point, the female is very much in control but this changes later in the poem. Porphyria finds it easy to manipulate the situation, She has her lover's full attention as she provocatively removes her clothes in a sexually motivated striptease then sits beside him and "murmurs" that she loves him. The fact that she murmurs this to him suggests two things. Firstly it could suggest tenderness, almost like a whisper Porphyria obviously cares a lot for this man but there is a level of uncertainty in a murmur, Secondly, a murmur is not a positive affirmation of her love, they can't be together. Porphyria is from a different social class and in times not so long ago it was frowned upon to unite with anyone below your social status: "Too weak from all her heart's endeavour, to set its struggling passion free, From pride and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me forever" This is the point in the poem where the roles of the two lovers are reversed and the man takes charge. He realises that he cannot be with the woman he wants and gravely "debates" what his options are: to carry on as they are a love restrained; or, to kill her and have her belong to him forever.

He chooses to kill her. This poem is based upon lust. For Porphyria the attraction lay in the knowing that they could not and should not be together, an exact replica of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit: "From pride and vainer ties dissever". She wants this man but will not give up who she is to be with him, he however has nothing of value apart from what he feels for this woman which is why he feels that killing her is the right thing to do: "That moment she was mine, mine, fair" His soul desire is to own her and is shown in the repetition of "mine". He takes charge of the situation, takes control and strangles her. It is the atmosphere after the murder that most surprises Me.

It is calm, quiet, almost as if nothing had happened. This is by far the most peaceful part of the poem; the beginning was very chaotic, with the bitter weather and the uneasy atmosphere. Now everything is peaceful again; "And all night long we have not stirred, and yet god has not said a word". He believes that because his crime was a crime of love it was somehow justifiable God has not yet punished him, no matter how severe the crime.

His strong feelings are seemingly confirmed when the evening is spent in a beautiful trance like silence. This image is a direct contrast to what has just happened and the reader is left with no idea of what will happen next. The poem involves many mixed emotions including want, lust and love, which eventually drove Porphyria's lover to extreme consequences. The second poem My Last Duchess involves a different social class, a duke and his deceased wife the Duchess and how human emotions can be governed by greedy, dominant areas of human nature and what consequences it can have when you let those feelings take over.

: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall looking as if she were alive. I call that piece a wonder" The duke expresses no grief or even fondness when viewing the painting of the Duchess. Instead he boasts about how superb a piece of art it is, going on to deliberately mention the artists name on two occasions: "Fra Pandolf by design" Possessions are obviously of immense value to him, perhaps dangerously so. This shaped the fate of the duchess.

The duke was very controlling and obviously had a strong hold over the Duchess; many of her actions displeased him: "And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, how such a glance came there; so, not the first are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not her husbands presence only, called that spot of joy into the duchess' cheek" A highly powerful man who expects nothing less than total respect and admiration from everyone must have been very taken back by the Duchesses response to compliments and male attention. He looked upon it as unacceptable. : "She had a heart -how shall I say? -Too soon made glad too easily impressed; she liked whatever she looked on, and her looks went everywhere" The duke obviously felt that he was being made to look a fool by the Duchess but refused to confront her about it. He was obviously to stubborn and to proud to do so.

: "Somehow-I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame this sort of trifling?" The Duchess was pleased by simple pleasures but the duke saw it as dishonest trifling and refused to say so, simple because he felt that if he did he would have sunk to her level. All throughout the poem the duke tries to subdue the Duchess with little success; there is a terrible imbalance of power in this poem. No one will speak up to a man with such a high amount of authority: "oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, when " er I passed her; but who passed without much thy same smile? This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together. There she stands as if alive" Eventually the Duke's jealously drove him to order the death of the duchess.

Now she is merely a painting in his grand gallery. He proceeds to negotiate his next marriage and all the wealth he will gain from it. His closing lines reveal his materialistic nature: "notice Neptune though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me" By writing this piece I have concluded that not all love poems are soppy and sentimental. In each poem the male has been plagued by controlling and jealous emotions causing horrific consequences..