my last duchess Essay -- essays research papers

Poets often use literary techniques to clearly convey the personalities of their speakers. InMy Last Duchess, Robert Browning uses full stop of view, diction, and imagery to achievea powerful effect, underlining the attitude and personality of the Duke. In a dramatic monologue, character development is based on what the speakersays, and how he says it. In My Last Duchess, the speaker of the monologue addressesa fictional audience, and the reader is seen as an unnoticed third party. It is because of thisviewpoint that the reader is able to analyze the haggling and actions of the Duke, gaininginsight into his life and personality that he is not aware of giving. While the poet uses hiswords to convey his intended meaning, it is up to the reader to draw his own conclusion, done the witnessed events and conversation. His arrogant and possessive nature mustbe inferred of the Dukes character from the way he speaks, just as the details of thesetting and situation must be inferred from hi s own words. Although the reader is notdirectly spoken to in the poem, evaluation of the Dukes showy attitude can be inferredthrough his absorb with the artwork and his nonchalant description of his wife, which isnoticed by the uninvolved reader. The Duke wants to present himself as a powerful and sophisticated man, and hedoes so in the beginning. However, as he ...