Perhaps one of my favorite poems of all time, other than "Goldie Pinklesweet", is Robert Browning's famous "My Last Duchess". I remember doing a research paper in college about it and how it served as one of the best examples in poetry of a dramatic monologue. The poem itself is simple: a wealthy aristocratic man is meeting with a business partner (for lack of a better term) with whom he hopes will help negotiate a dowry for a young woman he seeks as a bride. Before negotiations take place, he decides to show the man a painting of the former duchess. In the process, it becomes very apparent that this is more than just a friendly chat. The narrator reveals through the course of the conversation just what sort of man he is and what happened to his ex-wife, now alive only through the medium of a painting, and no, it's not the fancy living paintings of Harry Potter either.
Browning expertly weaves in subtle details into the monologue giving us an insight into the narrator's psyche without the narrator specifically saying what happened, though the details are heavily implied.
Anyway, if you're not familiar with the poem, I hope this serves as a suitable introduction.
No comments:
Post a Comment