My Last Duchess
My Last Duchess * How are feelings shown in my Last Duchess? * What is concealed and revealed by the Duke?
In the poem My Last Duchess, a large variation of feelings and emotions are expressed. They are expressed using various techniques, such as alliteration, rhetorical questions and many more. I am going to explain how feelings are expressed in parts of the poem and also what is shown and revealed by the Duke in My Last Duchess. One of the main feelings which are portrayed in the poem is jealousy. The evidence I have found in the poem where this feeling is expressed is where it says- “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile?” To emphasise the jealousy many different techniques have been used. The first technique is short sentences- in my opinion this shows that the Duke has many different emotions running through his mind. The word ‘But’ shows that there is a negative aspect to the situation, another well used technique in this quote is the use of a question mark. This makes the last part of the quote a rhetorical question, by making it a rhetorical question it shows he is looking back and remembering that she smiled at everybody the same way she used to smile at him. This question also implies that he was jealous that the Duchess used to smile at everyone in the same way and when she smiled at him it was not anything special. In my opinion, in this part of the poem he is filled with doubt about whether she loved the Duke or not. Also at the beginning of the sentence it is as if he is thinking positively about the good times but halfway through he changes his mind and realises that there was no hope at all for a successful relationship. By saying this quote it is showing that the Duke was a selfish person and he was greedy and desperate for the Duchess’s love and was jealous when she showed any kind of affection to anybody else. However, jealousy is not the only emotion expressed by the Duke.
In the poem My Last Duchess, a large variation of feelings and emotions are expressed. They are expressed using various techniques, such as alliteration, rhetorical questions and many more. I am going to explain how feelings are expressed in parts of the poem and also what is shown and revealed by the Duke in My Last Duchess. One of the main feelings which are portrayed in the poem is jealousy. The evidence I have found in the poem where this feeling is expressed is where it says- “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile?” To emphasise the jealousy many different techniques have been used. The first technique is short sentences- in my opinion this shows that the Duke has many different emotions running through his mind. The word ‘But’ shows that there is a negative aspect to the situation, another well used technique in this quote is the use of a question mark. This makes the last part of the quote a rhetorical question, by making it a rhetorical question it shows he is looking back and remembering that she smiled at everybody the same way she used to smile at him. This question also implies that he was jealous that the Duchess used to smile at everyone in the same way and when she smiled at him it was not anything special. In my opinion, in this part of the poem he is filled with doubt about whether she loved the Duke or not. Also at the beginning of the sentence it is as if he is thinking positively about the good times but halfway through he changes his mind and realises that there was no hope at all for a successful relationship. By saying this quote it is showing that the Duke was a selfish person and he was greedy and desperate for the Duchess’s love and was jealous when she showed any kind of affection to anybody else. However, jealousy is not the only emotion expressed by the Duke.