Download - Lecture 07: Whom Can You Trust?
● Married (1846) Elizabeth Barrett, a poet much better known than he was; the couple went to live in Italy.
● Best known for his dramatic monologues, not all of which are as depressing as this week’s selections.
● Unusually, “Robert Browning societies” for the study of his work were founded while he was still alive.
● First surviving sound recording made of a notable person in England (7 April 1889).
Robert Browning (1812–1889)
Caricature of Browning from Punch (1882).
Some questions about “My Last Duchess”
So we have some interpretive questions here …
● Who is the speaker?
● Who is “my last duchess”?
● To whom is the speaker currently speaking?
● What has he done?
● What is he currently trying to do?
“My Last Duchess” (1842)
● The speaker is probably Alfonso II d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533–1598).
● That would make his wife (the “last duchess”) Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, whom he married in 1558. He was 25, she 14.
● He abandoned her 1559; she died 1561, of either tuberculosis or poisoning.
● Painting to the left is by Agnolo “Bronzino” di Cosimo, 1560.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
● Shakespeare’s longest play.
● Also one of his most continually popular plays.
● Most likely composed some time between 1598 and 1601.
● Definitely performed by 1607, probably by 1602.
● Three extant early versions with notable differences:
– First quarto (Q1, 1603)
– Second quarto (Q2, 1604)
– First folio (F1, 1623)
● Often taken to be a “difficult” Shakespeare play for modern readers.
● Language: courtly vs. common/popular.
– Examples of uncommon rhetorical devices:● Stichomythia, long sections of alternating half-,
single, or double lines.● Anaphora, repetition of phrases at the beginning
of sentences.
What about Rosencrantz (1966)?
● Occurs “in the wings” of Hamlet. ● Other characters from Hamlet make periodic
appearances.
● Text from Hamlet and its form.
● Character motivations.
The Punch caricature of Robert Browning is out of copyright, as it was originally published in 1882.
Original source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Robert_browning_cartoon-1-.png
Bronzino’s portrait of Lucrezia di’ Medici is also out of copyright, being more than 450 years old.Original source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Agnolo_Bronzino%2C_ritratto_di_Lucrezia_de%27_Medici.JPG
Henry Fuseli’s rendition of the scene from Act I of Hamlet is also out of copyright, having been published in the 18th century:
Original source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet#/media/File:File-Hamlet,_Prince_of_Demark_Act_I_Scene_IV.png
Media credits