Lit.Guruji

            Duchess of Newcastle                                     - Virginia Woolf Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was a royalist, philosopher, duchess, and a writer. She was a poet, essayist and a pioneer of science fiction. She published her works under her original name, which was rarity during her period.Virginia Woolf described her as “a giant cucumber…noble and Quixotic and high-spirited, as well as crack-brained and bird-witted.” Cavendish’s enemies called her “ Mad Meg.” “I do not like her at all,”  said Samuel Pepys.  Margaret Lucas was born at St. John’s Abbey. She is the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Lucas. Among the eight children of Thomas, Margaret is the youngest one. She belonged to a royal family. She lost her father at the age of two. She was educated at home. She learned the art of dance, music, and needlework. She had an interest in writing at her young age.  The civil war broke out in England during the year 1640. The members of Margaret's fa

            My Last Duchess        “My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue  by Robert Browning in 1842. He is a Victorian poet. In this poem  the Duke of Ferrara is speaking about his first wife Lucrezia.  She died under suspicious circumstances shortly after marrying the Duke. The Duchess has some extraordinary qualities which makes the Duke feel disgusted . The speaker is the Duke and the listener is the envoy, whose daughter the Duke is going to marry.  The Duke  shows a lively and realistic portrait of the Duchess to the envoy  and calls it a great wonder. He claims that the entire portrait was painted by a famous Italian painter Fra Pandolf.  “ I call that piece a wonder”. The Duke has brought Fra Pandolf to paint and no one dared to ask about the painter or the depthness of art. From this it’s very clear that none dared to ask the Duke about the glance in the picture. The Duke claims that the blush in the cheeks of the Duchess is caused not by him. She blushes at ev