Poets often use literary techniques to clearly convey the personalities of their speakers. In
“My Last Duchess”, Robert Browning uses point of view, diction, and imagery to achieve a powerful effect, underlining the attitude and personality of the Duke.
In a dramatic monologue, character development is based on what the speaker says, and how he says it. In “My Last Duchess”, the speaker of the monologue addresses a fictional audience, and the reader is seen as an unnoticed third party. It is because of this viewpoint that the reader is able to analyze the words and actions of the Duke, gaining insight into his life and personality that he is not aware of giving. While the poet uses his words to convey his intended meaning, it is up to the reader to draw his own conclusion, through the witnessed events and conversation. His arrogant and possessive nature must be inferred of the Duke’s character from the way he speaks, just as the details of the setting and situation must be inferred from his own words. Although the reader is not directly spoken to in the poem, evaluation of the Duke’s showy attitude can be inferred through his concern with the artwork and his nonchalant description of his wife, which is noticed by the uninvolved reader.
The Duke wants to present himself as a powerful and sophisticated man, and he does so in the beginning. However, as he ...
Sipiora states that, "Characters often perceive (or fail to perceive) the context and implications of the circumstances and relationships they are in. Some characters act in good faith, whereas others do not. As we examine literary personae, it is especially important to judge them in terms of how they react to others" (77)
...it up to each reader to draw their own conclusions and search their own feelings. At the false climax, the reader was surprised to learn that the quite, well-liked, polite, little convent girl was colored. Now the reader had to evaluate how the forces within their society might have driven such an innocent to commit suicide.
also help to develop the major theme of the novel. The Duke and the King
other piece of information could provide insight into his mind. The book is divided into
The duke then talks to Othello as if he is a criminal by saying Duke:
At the start of the play, the court lacks respect for the fellow man, for example, Duke Oliver, calls one of his faithful servants an “old dog,” inquiring that his servant is nothing but an old warn out servant. The court seems to be filled with hostility and maliciousness, for example, when Orlando won the wrestling match against Charles, he was denied the usual honor that the court gives to the winner but because Orlando’s deceased father used to be an enemy to one of the dukes who at the time was watching the fight, decided not to honor Orlando’s win because of an old grudge against his deceased father. The Duke, Frederick, saying, “I would thou hadst been son to some man else. The world esteemed thy father honorable, But I did find him still mine enemy. Thou shouldst have better pleased me with this deed Hadst thou descended from another house. Bu...
The Duke is a very proud man, being a Duke he is higher than working
...e is going to tell next to deceive his power. Throughout his presence in the play as the friar, the Duke is never recognized as his true self. This portrays an intelligent man, experienced in the art of scheming and lying.
...The caesura within the quote emphasizes the emotionless personality of the Duke, and his lack of value for life. He makes these choices because of his dominance in the social hierarchy, both as a male and a duke. This quote also shows the immense degree of influence one can have on another’s life, in changing it, bettering it or in this case ending it.
From the beginning of the play the Duke shows his fascination with the art of disguise. He has Lord Angelo takes his place and he in turn becomes a friar in disguise. Throughout the play this notion of false identity and exchange of identity plays an important role for the Duke and also for the characters in the play.
the poem what he would normally have written a paragraph or more on. For example,
understanding the work based on what the author wanted to say instead of thinking about
"The point of view which I am struggling to attack is perhaps related to the metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of the soul: for my meaning is, that the poet has, not a personality' to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality, in which impressions and experiences combine in peculiar and unexpected ways."
His poetry just like his beliefs relays a sense of feeling towards aspects of spiritual understanding.