The two characters in these two poems have a certain attitude towards women, which is that they both see women as objects but in different ways. The Duke in "My Last Duchess" is an arrogant, disrespectful man, who cares more about status and wealth then love. He is a megalomaniac, who is jealous about his ex-wife not giving only him her attention. The speaker in "To His Coy Mistress" seems like a respectful man, who is articulate, this is important because it is his main strength which he uses to lure her to him. He uses his skill to flatter her, but we then learn that he only wants her for pleasure rather than love; he puts up a false persona of love as another technique to lure her.
It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her. In the poems “Medusa” and “Les Grands Seigneurs” both of the poems explore gender conflict through love/relationships and they are both written from a woman’s perspective. In “Les Grands Seigneurs” the character was single and she was able to manipulate men and was “their queen”. We can interpret that she controlled the men through lust. In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”.
The shared opinion by the men on the ranch is that they think ‘Curley’s married… a tart’ and that she is ‘giving men the eye’. Steinbeck uses this technique to create a biased opinion and set up the thoughts that men had of women in those days, calling her a ‘tart’ makes the reader think that she is unfaithful or prone to be, causing a disliking towards her. However given the fact that this is coming from gossip the reader realises it may be slightly exaggerated. Curley’s ‘glove fulla Vaseline’ make us pity Curley’s wife as it objectifies her as nothing but a sexual property to someone, which links in with her only ever being referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ showing us that she is nothing but Curley’s property as she remains nameless throughout the whole novel. Even though we see a sense of power with Curley, we are then brought to the idea that she is ‘giving men the eye’ which makes us dislike her for we assume then that she is being unfaithful and portraying her as a floozy.
The Duke name drops the painter's name "Fra Pandolf" to see if it impresses the listener. The Duke even admits deliberately mentioning the name - "I said / Fra Pandolf by design". Wanting to impress the person to whom he is speaking becomes a regular feature in the poem and is obviously another negative characteristic of the Duke. The Duke also reveals his misgivings about his late wife's character: ...Sir, 'twas notHer husband's presence only, called that spotOf joy into the Duchess' cheek... she liked whate'erShe looked on, and her looks went everywhere. If we remember that he is speaking to a relative stranger, this is quite inappropriate conversation.
The poem later confirms the fatal tragedies of these men with “anyone who has heard it is dead, and the others can't remember.”(8-9). Thus, it shows the men have the tendency to be arrogant in front of women, and over estimated their ability to survival. In addition, men have the strong and undefeatable self-concept which leads them to become less defensive with woman simply because women are view as weak and harmless to men. On the other hand, the poem also creates a very dominant and intelligent image for the woman which represents by the song bird, Siren. She understands that men are physically attracted to beautiful woman s the poem describes her as “picturesque and mythical” (15).
Compare Browning’s “My Last duchess” to “The Laboratory” You should comment on language, structure and form in your responses. Both the poems are written by Robert Browning. “The Laboratory is about a woman who may have been wronged by her lover and has now ordered a poison maker to make her a poison for her lover’s new women. The woman is fascinated by the poison making and also is obsessed about death. “My Last Duchess” is about a Duke who is looking for a new wife and is showing a count’s servant around.
Throughout Browning’s poems there is a reoccurring battle of power between men and women. The majority of Browning’s poems show women as inferior and naive beings who are owned by men, however Browning sometimes reverts the stereotypical Victorian women in a couple of his poems; making them the powerful figure. One poem which agrees with the statement is My Last Duchess. The Duke starts off by lacking the power to control his flirtatious Duchess but by murdering her and immortalising her into a painting the Duke gives himself ultimate power and control. “Since none puts by/The curtain drawn for you, but I”.
This article takes a different approach speculating that the duchess had to be unfaithful due to her husband’s impotence. The author goes on to point out specific lines within the poem that suggest this as being plausible. Gardner gives the explanation for another wife as being to increase the Duke’s wealth from his new wife’s dowry. I particularly like the fact that this author call the Duke a sociopath that loves to horrify others in order to feed his ego. I’m not quite convinced but other views interest me so I believe this article could be helpful in my paper.
The poems Porphyria’s Lover and The Laboratory both by Robert Browning are both quite simillar in the way he tells them and sets the scene/setting are different in several ways. Porphyria’s Lover is about a man who is in love with a woman who is from a rich upper-class family so cannot stay or be seen with him. So one night when she goes to see him, he kills her, so that she cannot leave him again. The Laboratory is about a woman whose boyfriend has left her or another girl. She then wants revenge.
Browning wrote ‘My Last Duchess’ about a Duke who has had his wife killed out of jealousy. It could be argued that Browning uses the poem to show how the Duke’s number one relationship is actually with himself. His first line, ‘that’s my last duchess painted on the wall’ shows his pride in presenting the painting. The use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ suggests that he saw his late wife as no more than a possession to show off. His lack of concern or grief in the fact that she is dead suggests that it is the object of the duchess and not the actual person that he loved, and the word ‘last’ implies that she was just one of many women that the Duke had turned into nothing more than objects for him to show off to others.