Representation of Social Picture in My Last Duchess

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In the Victorian age women are fully helpless. They depend on men for their social security, sex and marriage. That’s why marriage is the most significant point in a woman’s life at this age. And women were dominated by their sexuality and were expected to fall silently into the social mold that was crafted by men. Though women were regarded as flimsy, sensitive and dutiful.

In the poem ‘My Last Duchess Robert Browning nicely portrayed that kind of social picture. The dominant person of this is duke Ferra. At the beginning of the poem we can see he portrays his dead wife’ painting that hangs on the wall. And he describes the listener without any emotions. That expresses the Victorian characteristics of men. However, then the duke complained about his last duchess that she treated all people, even servants, the same as she treated the duke. But this made the duke mad and jealous. And then the duke stopped all similes together.

‘ She smiled, no doubt, whenever I passed her, but who passed without, Much the same smile? ‘

This gree, I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together ‘

The duchess has no fault but she faces the ultimate date because of the power of the duke. In the Victorian era this was the harsh reality of society. The only flat the duchess has is that she was a kind-hearted woman. But if the duke properly talks to her I think he will manage her easily. But the duke didn’t do that because he was the decision maker and was all in all of the Victorian era. This age men create principles, and control society by their mind or intellectual strength. On the other hand women are oppressed since they were loyal to men.

Women are helpless, they need to live and the only thing to survive is get married. And the majority of women did not have the option not to marry, it was a simple necessity for survival in the Victorian era. Because society prevented women. Women are fully dependent on men. And that is why men easily dominate women. In this poem, Browning shows this kind of dominance by the description of the Last Duchess.

Basically through the characteristics of jaguar, Ted Hughes is trying to portray human nature in our society.

In the poem we can see apes, parrots, tigers, lions and the boa both are lifeless. They all are hopeless, they cannot think of their freedom. They do not want to escape from the cage. Some human beings are like this type of animal that we do not want to change. We do not have any consciousness about society. We all are busy with silly things.

But on the other hand in the poem the only creature jaguar is lively, he moves around the cage and he is hopeful and conscious about freedom. Generally, the movement of the jaguar Ted Hughes shows us that except those people like the parrot, tiger and boa some people are always lively, strong and hopeful of their freedom, their thoughts. And they never give up their hope. They cherished freedom, hopes are always in their heart like the jaguar. In the poem all people are ruched in the jaguar cage. Because he is the only creature that moves into the zoo. And people like to sew him. And this gives the real meaning of the poem. We human beings are individual from each other and somehow we can not live with the real meaning of life like the jaguar. Because the jaguar never loses his hope of freedom and he always keeps moving and by getting any change he takes it and gets out of the cage. We some people are like the jaguar that are different from others and think always differently and always look forward to some changes like the jaguar. Because of this poem, the jaguar makes the hope of freedom with his movement.

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