FREE ESSAY ON MY LAST DUCHESS" AND "MUSEE DES BEAUX ARTS"

MY LAST DUCHESS" AND "MUSEE DES BEAUX ARTS"

Kevin Parekh Parekh 1
En 102
Prof. Eric
World Without Love
The Poems "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning and "Musee des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden
describes how people don't care about each other and that world is cruel. In "My Last
Duchess" the guy is talking the messenger from the duchess about how he killed his wife
and was happy about it, whereas in "Musee des Beaux Arts" the kid is dying in water but
his father or not even the people in the ship care about him, they just let him drown in
the water and lastly the poem "The Sick Rose" by William Blake has perfect metaphor
reflecting the behavior and feeling of a human being by comparing love to an invisible
worm, which destroys people lives. This three poem reflects people just don't care about
each other and people have lost the meaning of love. 
In "My Last Duchess" the guy is describing to his how he killed his ex-wife and that he
was happy about it. He liked a girl and girl was beautiful and young. She liked to flirt
around and liked everything in this world. She liked all men and women. She smiles at
everyone and like everyone around her. She smiled at the guy too but he is not happy
about it because he thinks that she is his woman and she should not look at anyone else
except him. Even the guy said to the messenger that, "Will't Please you sit and look at
her?" (Browning 550), which shows she was beautiful and one's eyes would just stare at
her for a long time. He also said, "Her mantle laps Over my Lady's wrist too much," or
"Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat" 
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(Browning 550) which shows she was courteous, disciplined and beautiful. She had a good
heart, which loved everyone and made everyone glad but the author did not like the 
fact she considers everyone same as him and that she does not pay more attention to him
than others. 
The author also gave her a gift but she considered all the gifts as the same and did not
differentiate between a bad and a good gift. In other she did not care about author's
feeling and the love that author had for her. The author says, "Just this Or that in you
disgusts me; here you miss, Or there you exceed the mark" (Browning 550) which represents
that she treats everyone equal and did not give more importance to author. She considers
author as one of nine hundred men that she likes. And after a while she passed the author
without a smile, and that offended author because he really liked her and she did not
cared about him. The guy was angry with the lady and he commanded his men to kill her to
show his power over the lady. The guy says, "I gave commands; Then all the smiles stopped
together." (Browning 550) this shows that the author proved his power over the lady by
killing her. The guy wants her command over the lady so he killed her and now he is
regretting for his deeds. And now he asks the lady in the picture to come back to him. 
He says, "Will't please your rise?"(Browning 550) this shows the guy cares from her now,
after she is dead. This whole scenario reflects that people don't care about each other.
The duchess loved everyone but the guy wanted her but did not achieve her so he 
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killed her. This is a selfish and cruel world we live in. People just don't understand
the feeling and the type of relationship that the other person is trying to follow. 
On the other hand the poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" shows that people around the world
don't care about each other even if the person is dying. The kids father made him a like
wings out wax so he could fly but he warned him by saying not to fly near sun or near
water, but the kid flew near the ocean water and the wax melted and the kid fell into the
ocean and was drowning. Although the kid was drowning nobody was even trying to help him
save. His father was busy ploughing the field he did not care either. The sheep were
grazing; the dog was scratching himself on a tree; the sailor was sailing his ship he did
not want himself to get wet and did not want water on his expensive ship. Everyone around
there was selfish and nobody cared about the kid's drowning. The author says, "and, the
delicate ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out off the sky, Had
somewhere to go to and sailed calmly on." (Auden 592) this shows nobody cares about the
boy in the water. 
The author also says, "Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard
the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure." (Auden 592)
this reflect the ploughman did care about the boy just because it was not important to
him; it was not a great failure or loss to the ploughman. Nobody understands the meaning
of humanity or mankind towards his or her fellow beings. This poem reflects that people
love and talk to each other only for their own interest and not for being 
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generous or helpful. The most amazing thing about this poem is people are following their
daily routine and a boy is drowning in the ocean and nobody cares about it. This is 
utmost disturbing situation. People have lost the meaning of humanity and mankind. The
people in the whole scenario as described by Auden reflects that people are just dully
walking away doing their daily business and they assume that nothing is happening around
them as if it is just a normal day and its normal for a kid to drown in water. This is
the most dreadful scene.
And lastly the poem "The Sick Rose" by William Blake describes people have lost the
meaning of love making them selfish and cold-hearted people. Blake says, "And his dark
secret love Does thy life destroy"(Blake, 539), which show love is an evil thing and
could destroy ones life. He also says, "O, Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That
flies in the night" (Blake, 539), which reflects that people have lost he meaning of love
and have become cold hearted. Love is compared to a sick rose and our love for others
have become sick and weak. And in terms of feeling, we absolutely have no love and even
if we do, it is for some selfish purpose that's why Blake calls love a sick rose. Love is
like an evil spirit that in a howling storm destroying everything that comes in its way.
Thus Blake reflects through this poem that everyone in the world is cold-hearted and
nobody cares about each other. 
According to me, all of these three poems reflect as to how people have become selfish
and cold hearted for their own interests. In "My Last Duchess" the guy is crazy and kills
the duchess just prove his power but fails to reflect care, compassion and love for human
being; also in "Musee des Beaux Arts" the kids father, the sailor and even the 
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people around him do not care about he kids drowning. Everyone is doing their work as if
nothing is happening there and lastly "The Sick Rose" which reflects how love has lost
it's meaning and people have destroyed their lives without love and compassion. 
Thus according to me all the people in the world are selfish and don't care about other
people's feeling and don't have affection toward them
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Work Cited
1). Blake, William. "The Sick Rose." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540. 
2). Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540.
3). Auden, W.H. "Musee des Beaux Arts." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540.
Bibliography
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Work Cited
1). Blake, William. "The Sick Rose." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540. 
2). Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540.
3). Auden, W.H. "Musee des Beaux Arts." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 1999.
539-540.