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1、Robert Browning“How sad and bad and mad it was - / But then, how it was sweet!” 1812-1889BiographyRebelled from school, as he was later to rebel from London University. He was mainly taught by his father and a series of tutors and masters in Greek, Latin, French, Music and Italian.He mostly learned
2、through all the reading he did.He very much wanted to become a significant and recognized person. He wanted to escape from the ideas of the middle-class, chapel-going, and business world in which he found himself.His home was an oasis in a desert of materialism and smug provincialism.His family supp
3、orted hi until his marriage at 33, as well as paid for the publication of most of his poetry (he had had to persuade his family that he should become a poet).His wife, Elizabeth Barrett, was a successful poet and they lived off her income.He was a man of talent was extremely well-informed, a man of
4、business and was entertaining company. When she died in 1861, Browning and his 13 year old son moved home to England (from Italy).In 1863-64 he became more successful.He had an immense gusto for life and was determined to find out the deepest motives of men.He is known for the development of the dra
5、matic monologue, his anaylsis of the passion of love, and for his refreshing diction. He had a cheery this poetic form also provides compression and restraint so that the character of the Duke is subtle and yet highly charged.As a result of the use of poetry, the story is controlled, yet forceful an
6、d intense.The rhyme isnt obvious because Browning makes the pauses occur in the middle of the lines, not at the end of the second line, which emphasizes the rhyming effect.“My Last Duchess”The poem is perhaps the most popular of his dramatic monologues. Dramatic monologue: there is only one speaker,
7、 not soliloquizing, but directly addressing another person or group, whose responses or gestures are often suggested by the words of the speaker.The scene is the castle of the Duke of Ferrara, an arrogant Italian nobleman of the Renaissance period. The Duke is showing a painting of his first wife to
8、 an envoy who has been sent to arrange the details of a second marriage. With keen dramatic skill, wherein every detail is significant, the Duke, revealed through his discussion of his artless young wife. Brownings skill at portraying character a skill not found in most other lyric poets is clearly
9、exhibited.The SceneThe scene: A palace in Ferrara, a city in northern Italy.The time: the Renaissance, when the Italian nobility were especially notes for their magnificence, their interest in art, and their pride.The speaker: the Duke of FerraraThe listener: the personal representative of a neighbo
10、ring count.The duke takes the counts messenger to an upstairs room, draws the curtain from before a portrait on the wall, and, turning to his companion, speaks.The poem is often referred to as the best example of a dramatic monologue.QuestionsThe poem may be divided into three parts: lines 1-13, lin
11、es 13-47, and lines 47-56. Give titles to each part.What qualities are revealed by the Dukes reference to his “nine-hundred- year-old name”?Why is there reason to doubt the Dukes sincerity in lines 49-53?What do you find sinister about the implications in lines 45-46? What effect do they have when c
12、onsidered with lines 52-53?What is revealed about the Dukes emotional qualities in the fact that he passes casually from one art object (wifes portrait) to another (the bronze statue of Neptune)?What is ironic about the Dukes snobbish love of originals (art)?Identify the symbolism in the following:
13、the 900-year-old name; the white mule, Neptune, the paintings as prized possessions.How long did the portrait take to complete? What does this tell us about the Duke?Why does the poet change the subject in the last three lines?Examine the poem for rhyme and rhythm.Browning regarding dramatic monolog
14、ues: “My stress lies in the incidents in the development of the soul: little else is worth study.”“Prospice” (pros pi se) Latin meaning “look forward”. Shortly after the death of his wife, Browning wrote this poem. His philosophy of life was always one of courage, of making the adventurous attempt i
15、n face of difficulty. The Arch Fear (Death) did not terrify him. The poem expresses his undaunted spirit in the face of death and his firm belief in the eventual reunion with his beloved wife. As he had faced the joyous contest of living, so he would meet the final struggle confidently, with assuran
16、ce of personal struggle.“Prospice” QuestionsIs there any rhyme or rhythm? What is the first metaphor for the feeling of being on the brink of death? What is “the place” in the fourth line? Who is the Arch Fear?What analogy (extended metaphor) is used to describe the feeling of approaching death? List specific words that support the image / metaphor.
