The speaker in My Last Duchess outwardly expresses a great deal of affection for the duchess whose portrait he is describing to the audience. He was her husband and only after the duchess’s death, he claims, has he realized the extent of his love for her. Now that it is too late for him to express his love to her personally, he is forced to simply tell whoever will listen. However, he has moved on and is now trying to woo that daughter of a count. This fact, mentioned at the conclusion of poem, puts some degree of doubt into the veracity of the speaker’s claims of love for the duchess. It could all be an act for the benefit of the listener, who works for this count.
The six lines
“...I repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object.”
hint strongly at the speaker’s ulterior and less noble motives. He seems more concerned with the count’s reputation for generosity and the size of the dowry he will receive for a marriage to the count’s daughter. This speaker is more concerned with improving his own fortunes than he is with his duchess or his betrothed.
The speaker in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is very much preoccupied with himself as well, but in a greatly different fashion. He is concerned about going out because he is afraid that those that see him will judge him unfavorably. The speaker is very conscious of his own aging process, and he is sure that all who see him find the signs of his age just as conspicuous as he does. He worries about he thinning hair “They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’” and “Shall I part my hair behind?”. He worries about his own mortality, “And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and\ snicker”. The speaker is so preoccupied with his own age related changes that he is socially paralyzed and can do nothing but complain to the audience. Furthermore, because of this constant worry he is unable to enjoy the time he still has.
Both speakers are preoccupied with their own concerns during the narration of each respective poem. However, the speaker in My Last Duchess is proactively improving his situation by negotiating a dowry to go along with his new bride, unlike the speaker in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock who is unable to take any action because his worries continuously occupy his thoughts.
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1 comment:
Maybe the Duke was never in love with the Duchess. He was in love with her beauty, someone who would look good by his side. But then her gift became a curse, where men could not help, but to look, which made the Duke extremely jealous.
The last lines do suggest that the Duke only care about the dowry which he gets if he marries the daughter of the Count.
Indeed, the speaker in T.S. Eliot is very insecure and uncertain. He constantly questions how others will see him. He is very pessimistic, only thinks about the negative that people will see in him. I agreed that he is “socially paralyzed”, unable to interact and make a decision as illustrated by “so how should I presume?” “and how should I presume”
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