Introduction
The poetic rendition of the female subject has historically been a patriarchal domain for famous poets like Robert Browning and Andrew Marvell to create their masterpieces. In these poems, objectification of the female body and attitude towards women is clearly shown under the garb of romantic poetry. In this essay, I will compare “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell and âMy Last Duchessâ by Robert Browning to show how these two apparently different poems are similar in their treatment of the female subject. The poems hide the patriarchal desire to look at a woman who is behind the veils, hidden and unattainable. Though the poems are apparently dissimilar, the tone of the narrators, their description of the object of their obsession, and the treatment of the female body suggest a connection that previously was unobserved. The theses I present in the paper are that the resemblances and divergences between the two poems and finally argue that they are thematically similar.
Treatment of women
The voices of the narrators in both poems seem uncannily similar. Both are egotistical misogynists. A woman, the object of obsession for both the narrators, is the forbidden erotic object that the poets want to capture in their poems. In these dramatic monologues, the poets show the narrators as dominating and egotistical men who feel a womanâs wish is insignificant. Duke Ferrara shows the envoy his last, and, presumably, dead wifeâs portrait that he keeps concealed from the common eye. A duke is a proud man who feels that his last duchess was too frivolous, easy to please, and bestowed her smiles too generously on strangers. The narrator has an inflated male ego that boasts of the nothingness of female existence. This is apparent when he says, âI gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped togetherâ (Browning 45-46). The masculine pride of the duke reduces the duchess to a mere object (a painting). He boasts of his power to stop her from smiling with just one command. The narrator clearly indicates that the female demeanor is controlled and ruled by the man’s wishes.
He is the master of the female ‘other,’ and therefore, has physical and emotional power over her. A similar rejection of the female identity is observed in Marvellâs poem. Marvellâs narrator tries to seduce his mistress, initially with sweet words of love, and then with morbid and grotesque imagery to frighten her into submission. Here too, the narrator tries to gain sexual favor from his mistress, even when she is “coy” and reluctant to engage in physical relations. Apparently, the narrator seems to have accepted her negation, but that is a fallacy that the poet wants the readers to believe with the use of words like âladyâ and âif you ⊠refuseâ (Marvell 2-9). However, the narrator, in the tradition of courtly love, should have accepted the womanâs denial. Instead, he pursues her with unabashed fervor. He solicits her love even when she refuses his advances: âAnd you should if you please, refuse / ⊠My vegetable love should growâ (9-11). This actually shows that the narrator was unable to accept the lady’s denial and continued to pursue her. Like the narrator of âLast Duchess”, here too, the narrator believes his wishes gained precedence over the womanâs denial. Both of them believe that the female âotherâ did not have any individual identity, but was an appendage to the male âselfâ, and therefore, a manâs possession.
Views of women
Women in the poems are depicted as frivolous and flirtatious. Browningâs narrator openly declares to the foreign envoy that his last wife âhad a heartâ that was âtoo soon made gladâ or easily âimpressedâ (25-26). Duke Ferrara disapproved of her easy manner and sweet disposition. He believed his wifeâs love and attention should be his exclusive property. When the duchess did not differentiate between the men on whom she bestowed her âspeechâ or âblushâ, it infuriated the duke (33-34). The sense of egotistic possession was so strong in the duke that he could not tolerate the Duchessâs good-natured smiles towards other men.
Thus, the natural female beauty in her smiles, blushes, or sweet manners did not inspire love in the narrator. Instead, we find swelling anger to the mild and compassionate nature of the duchess. These character traits that the duke disliked in the duchess were the epitome of feminine nature and therefore a source of her identity. However, the duke vehemently rejects her character and suspects her fidelity (Gardner 166). Similarly, Marvellâs narrator in âCoy Mistressâ feels that the âcoynessâ in his mistress is a show of her flirtatiousness. He strongly believes that she was enjoying his overt sexual advances even though she was rejecting them. Thus, both the narrators believe that women have an enticing nature. They are frivolous and âcoyâ, devoid of any moral uprightness.
Objectification of the female body is another aspect present in both the poems. These poetic creations have a voyeuristic appeal for the poet as well as the readers. Vivid physical description of the women depicts the male gaze on the female body. In âLast Duchessâ the duke and the foreign envoy, both men, are looking at the life-like portrait of the duchess. The painting becomes the voyeuristic window where the male gaze appraises the female body. The line âWill ât please you sit and look at herâ is an invitation by the duke to the envoy to appreciate the female form in the duchessâs painting (Browning 5). This invitation contradicts the dukeâs possessive nature expressed in the poem. On the contrary, he takes pleasure in the show. The use of words like âdepth of passionâ of the duchessâs âearnest glanceâ and the âblushâ on her âcheeksâ was actually drawing the envoyâs attention to her physical appearance (9-15). The deliberate drawing of the readerâs attention to the duchessâs body shows the voyeuristic pleasure the narrator drew from this exhibition of the painting. Marvellâs narrator in âCoy Mistressâ gives a vivid description of his mistressâs physical attributes:
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart. (13-18)
This description of the female body is devoid of any pretention of romantic involvement. Instead, it is just a pretense of passionate address that is rejected at the very beginning of the third stanza when he brings forth his real perception of his mistress whose beauty he believes are mere ashes (Cousins 398). His perception of his mistress becomes more apparent when he metaphorically compares her attempts to safeguard her chastity as a mere folly for her âlong-preserved virginityâ he says will âturn to dustâ (27-30). Therefore, he believes that a womanâs beauty âshall no more be foundâ and will turn her old-fashioned honor to âdustâ and âashesâ if she continually rejects a loverâs advances (25-30). The womanâs cadaver is also an object of lust to the narrator: âthen worms shall try / That long-preserved virginityâ (28-29). This shows that the narrator believes that a woman is desired only for her beauty and once she grows old, all her charms are lost. Both the narrators believe that womenâs beauty is skin-deep. Their voyeuristic description actually shows their perception of feminine beauty and attraction. Both the narrators openly display the womanâs body for voyeuristic viewing through the words and expressions in the poem.
Views of themselves
The narrators of the poems are but a mirror into the poetâs attitude towards the gender. Marvellâs witty and erotic poem skillfully hides the true attitude of the poet behind the narrator. However, the poem depicts the poetâs disgust towards the female form (Cousins 399). The physical descriptions of feminine grace and virtue are an ironical representation of the rude description of the female body. Similarly, Browning, through his narrator, expresses his attitude towards women. His idea of feminine conduct is piquantly speckled with Victorian morality (Gardner 167). Both the poets show no respect for female identity and strongly reject its presence through their overt masculine overtures towards the female âotherâ. Imagining frivolity and flirtatiousness as the main traits of female character, the poets show that women are in their social status and should suffer male dominance. The presence of the male gaze in the poems is a deliberate sexist trope to intensify the narratorâs and through them the poetâs, misogynistic attitude towards women. In conclusion, both âLast Duchessâ and âCoy Mistressâ trivializes the female body as an object controlled by man, thus denying them an individual identity.
Works Cited
Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess.” My Last Duchess and Other Poems. Dover, 1993, pp. 1-2.
Cousins, AD. “The Replication and Critique of Libertinism in Andrew Marvellâs âTo His Coy Mistressâ.” Renaissance Studies, vol. 28, no. 3, 2013, pp. 392-404.
Gardner, Kevin. “Was the Duke of Ferrara Impotent?.” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, vol. 23, no. 3, 2010, pp. 166â171.
Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” “To His Coy Mistress” and Other Poems. Dover, 1997, pp. 1-2.