The Duke thinks he is bigger than God and also a jealous and possessive man. The poem starts off as the poet looking at a portrait of his last Duchess. He looks at the beauty of her as if she is still alive. The Duke says, “I call. That piece a wonder, now” (Mitchell 74).
In the poems “My last Duchess” and “The River God”, the theme love is present and the poetic voices seems to appear friendly and harmless. At the beginning of “my last Duchess” the Duke admires his portrait of his Duchess as he expresses her a piece of “wonder” to the Count’s envoy. We can understand that the Duke perceives his Duchess as an delicate treasure of his, when unveils “the curtain” to the envoy, this suggest his deep intimacy toward his Duchess when he hides it in his private gallery , this further indicates that she is his most prized position and only he can cherish her beauty. Similarly in “The river god” the poetic voice falls in love with a “bold”, “beautiful lady” where he states that he will not “let her go” This indicates that he is deeply in love and feels as if he is attached and fond of her. He admires her attitude when she baths herself by “the tall black cliff where the water runs cold” he relates her attitude to his connection to power.
“His actions show a character who insists the soul is real, but loves the gaping chasm between the beauty of his body and the corruption of his soul” [ (Wilde 105-123) ]. Because of these factors, Dorian Gray is a morally ambiguous character. When the reader first encounters Dorian, they discover that he has such virtue and purity about him that Hallward reveres him and craves to constantly paint him. By continuously telling Gray how handsome he is, Basil has made him believe that beauty is the most essential facet to life. Dorian begins to panic when Lord Henry tells him that he will not always be
In ‘My last duchess’ love is shown as a very strong emotion because of the Duke’s possessive love for his ‘last duchess’. He showed disapproval when she smiled at other men or when her ‘looks went everywhere’. The Duke felt that as he had gifted her ‘his nine-hundred-years-old name’, she was his possession and that her smiles and her beauty should only be for himself. This shows how the Duke’s love was very selfish and arrogant as he thought of her as a trophy to show off as if he did not truly love her. This may have been the case as in the 14th to 16th century when the poem was set, women were treated like this and a man would choose his wife taking great consideration into the wealth of her and her family.
He then thinks about his late wife, remembering that it wasn’t just his company which made her blush. He wonders that maybe it was the painter complimenting her that brought forth such a response from her, as she thought that such attentions were all just formalities and politeness. He continues on scorning the easily pleased nature of the duchess: she found something to praise in whatever she saw. Finding the fact disdainful that things so simple and unworthy as the sunset or a small offering of fruit some officer made her could make her as happy as his gift to her, his hand in marriage and a nine hundred year old name, did, he admits to the messenger that he did not approve of such unreservedness. He goes on to say that no one could really fault the duchess for her flighty nature, but even if he had the power of speech required to make his expectations from her clear, and had she been willing to do as he told, even then he could not think of sinking down to her
Jessica Lipori Mrs. Kabboord AP Lit, Period 6 05 November 2013 Malvolio’s Major Flaw: Self-love Throughout Twelfth Night, the main theme is love. Each character is either in love or focused on wooing one for another, though the play focuses on the love triangle between Orsino, Viola (Cesario), and Olivia. Even with the great love between characters in the play, there is an element of self-love. Malvolio woos Olivia even though his greatest love is himself. Malvolio’s major flaw is self-love; and this trait leads him to be prideful, value himself above others, and believe that he is the victim in any given circumstance.
Poetry Compare and Contrast Love and Madness True love is the theme in the poem “Porphyria’s Lover,” by Robert Browning, and “Annabel Lee,” written by Edger Allen Poe. They were written in the same time period both having romantic notions, and share the same dramatic monologue style. Both are similar poems in their deranged views of love. However, the manner in which their beautiful lovers die and how they felt after their death, differ greatly. The men in both poems truly loved their women in the beginning, but by the end they had become obsessive, drove themselves to insanity, and slept next to the dead bodies of their lovers.
He stops at a painting of his late wife, his ‘last Duchess’ and begins a speech of which he is recanting his thoughts of her. From this speech, his wife was popular, especially with men, and a passionate and pleasant lady (to the reader only). The Duke is telling of his intolerances of her actions, being that of flirtations with men, however innocent, and how she did not rate his ‘gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name’, but instead treated him as she did others. It is well hinted that her behaviour angered the Duke so he had his Duchess killed, ‘I gave commands;Then all the smiles stopped together.’ It would seem his speech is also for the purpose of letting the envoy know his expectations of his new wife, that being very different to the last. Because the poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue, the reader only shares the conversation of the Duke.
The duke’s rapacious nature can be seen many times throughout the poem, one of these moments can be seen from line 1 to 10 in the poem where he talks about who painted the painting and their reputation in the artistic world more than the subject of the painting. These references show how much the duke values wealth. After the duke has finished admiring the artwork of artist he goes on to talk about the innocent face of the duchess. Many strangers observe the painting and admire the honest, depth and passion of the duchesses face however in the quote “But to myself they turned” shows that the duke had completely different thoughts about the painting. The messenger wasn’t the first person to talk about the duchesses face and whenever people ask about the face he replies in a very intimidating manner.
Yeats’ tone helps enrich the reader’s conception of the poem’s theme. William Butler Yeats conveys tone through his choice of words and use of details. On the first stanza, the poem expresses a serene feeling as he writes, “when you are old and grey and full of sleep”. On the second stanza, the poet delivers a desperate yet sad tone as he admits his love. “But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you”, we find with this tone that the narrator is