My Last Duchess By Margaret Atwood - 1009 Words

The short story, My Last Duchess, by critically acclaimed, Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, is an intriguing and thought-provoking work of prose. Though it ties considerably to the famous work by the same name, written by Robert Browning, it also brings its own ideas, and symbols to the table. The most prominent symbolic link within this story is the representation between the characterization of Miss Bessie--the high school english teacher--and the narrator s ideas, thoughts, and fears about life. The term life -- for the purposes of this essay -- is defined as the existence of an individual person and their course through the world. In â€Å"My Last Duchess,† the narrator s life is symbolically represented through Miss Bessie by the character traits of a positive reputation, overcoming obstacles, and the solitary nature of people. A positive reputation is an important part of being successful; being respected for your workmanship, determination and professionalism is, for many people, a major goal in life. Throughout â€Å"My Last Duchess,† Miss Bessie is described as having, â€Å"[a] no-nonsense professional appearance,† as well as being, â€Å"the best English teacher in the school.† The narrator also remarks about Miss Bessie’s intolerance for meer passing marks, stating that, â€Å"...she wanted top marks from us. She had the reputation of the school to keep up, and also her own reputation.† It can be inferred that Miss Bessie is quite conscious of her reputation and treats it as aShow MoreRelatedBritish Literature : Final Exam1300 Words   |  6 PagesEmpire is at it’s highest power the authors of the time start to find chinks in the armour of the Empire. An author like Robert Browning defied the norms of the time and starts to write material that contains eleme nts of dark comedy such as â€Å"My Last Duchess†, the story of a Duke who is trying to impress an agent so he can marry a wealthy woman, it just so happens that he all but admits to casual murder of his former brides for their fortunes. Another highlight is â€Å"Childe Roland† which depicted aRead MoreBritish Literature : Final Exam1301 Words   |  6 PagesEmpire is at it’s highest power the authors of the time start to find chinks in the armour of the Empire. An author like Robert Browning defied the norms of the time and starts to write material that contains elements of dark comedy such as â€Å"My Last Duchess†, the story of a Duke who is trying to impress an agent so he can marry a wealthy woman, it just so happens that he all but admits to casual murder of his former brides for their fortunes. Another highlight is â€Å"Childe Roland† which depicted a