'My Last Duchess' is also a Dramatic monologue which means that there is one speaker, the Duke and he tells a story has a monologue speech of what has happened. It is a one-sided conversation. Poets often use this technique to express things they think about the world without causing a scandal. In this poem Browning uses the duke as an example to how men treated women during the Italian Renaissance and drew this inequality to the mid of the Victorians. This makes the duke seem like a bad character but leaves the poet in a good light.
Browning also uses enjambment in the poem to give it a flowing quality which makes the duke seem more realistic. This works extremely well as it makes the poem seem more like a real conversation instead of just a poem. There she stands (next line) As if alive. This gives the poem real flow and also adds a slight mental pause which helps make the duke seem real.
The chatty language used by Browning in this poem is used to make the duke seem friendlier. ‘How shall I say?’ This makes the duke seem like a friendly person when he is talking about murder he committed. He is talking about murder as if it is an every-day thing. This makes him seem more evil who does not care that he advertising the fact that he committed murder in his ' household because his wife was a bit too hard to control for him. It is almost as if he wants the envoy to know this. This makes the duke seem even more cunning and evil. This technique is extremely effective. As well as that Browning delays useful information to us. We start off with him talking about a picture of his last duchess and we end knowing he murdered her. The information is hinted at used throughout the whole poem. The information is given away to us very slowly and it keeps us interested and trying to work the truth out. 'The all smiles stopped together'. This is the moment we find out he murdered her. The delays in useful information makes the poem more interesting and makes the duke seem as if to him it's not a big deal the he murdered his last duchess which also makes us consider if he has done it before and if he will do it again. Remember the duke is talking about to his next duchess's father's envoy. The duke seems to think it is normal to murder woman.
Also the last few lines explain the whole poem and give us a final idea of what the duke has really done. 'Taming a sea-horse'. This tells us that the duke tried to tame his duchess but found the only way to do that was to kill her and put her in a painting. This gives us a final real picture of the murderous, proud, conceited and jealous duke he really is.
In 'Salome' the mood is similar to 'My Last Duchess' apart from the fact that 'My Last Duchess' is more formal than the casual way Salome talks about the head on the pillow next to her. Many poetic techniques are used to create this feeling of casualness. Firstly the poem is like waking. As we go down the poem the paragraphs get longer and more complicated like a person coming awake. This makes Salome seem like she is not alert and doesn't care much about what is happening around her. This waking feeling is not found in 'My last Duchess'
Also 'Salome' uses a dramatic monologue; however, we do not know who Salome is speaking to. Even though the maid is mentioned it is very unlikely Salome is speaking to her. We have to consider that the poem may just be a trail of Salome's thoughts on paper. This strange use of dramatic monologue makes us think that either Salome is a person who talks to herself, she is mad or there is someone in the room we do not know of. This is another mystery that makes the character of Salome portrayed as a vicious killer in this poem all the more interesting.
As well as that in 'Salome' she is so carefree about the head on the pillow next to her she forgets about it and instead of wondering what it is doing there she starts thinking about why she is drunk as if a head lying next to her is a normal thing. This makes Salome seem like a carefree murderer who is accustom to head lying next to her in the morning. She even manages to kiss the heads 'cold' lips. This gives us a good Image of what Salome is really like.
Duffy also uses the technique of dawning realisation by only giving small details of the truth. This makes us interested like in a riddle where we want to find the answer. This makes Salome even seem even more careless because she does not even 'think' about the fact that the head lying next to her is dead.
Duffy also explains the whole poem in the last few lines. 'Was his head on a platter.' Until that point we are not told that the head is separate from the body. If we were not familiar with the biblical story of Salome we would be none the wiser until that line. This gives a good effect of realisation on the reader. It is like a detective story, during which we have piece the evidence together. In the end we get a shock when we realise that the head is actually separated from the body.
In 'Salome' there is also a half-rhyme scheme, which makes this event seem happy. This is used to great effect in the last line where the fact that his head is on a platter is made seem good by the fact that 'platter' has the half-rhyme ending '-atter'. It gives the poem waking feeling Salome's thoughts are getting clearer. The rhyme mimics this by getting clearer towards the end there is a complete rhyme of the last word 'platter'.
Duffy also uses biblical reference to make the poem seem familiar. If anyone knows the story of Salome they will start working out something is wrong when the head on the pillow next to her is mentioned. An interesting biblical reference is 'Simon? Andrew? John?' This is a list of some of the disciples. The tone is like a confession. When she is searching for the name of the person who she killed she lists names of Apostles. This is very interesting because it either thinking of the tens of people she has murdered before or she care so little about the murder she committed she forgot the name. It also adds a feeling of confusion going on in her head as she is waking up. She is also weirdly blasé about the fact that there is a severed head next to her.
In conclusion Browning and Duffy both present their characters negatively. The duke in 'My Last Duchess' is presented as a wealthy man who thinks killing not a bad thing and who doesn't care that he is talking about him killing his last duchess to his next duchess's father' envoy. Salome is a biblical figure who is presented as a ruthless killer who murders and seduces men. Both poets are very successful at presenting their speakers in the way that they wanted to prove their point in the world.
