Both ‘The Laboratory’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ are of anger and resentment, in ‘The Laboratory’ it is the discarded mistress who is jealous about other women flirting and dancing with the King, and in ‘My Last Duchess’ it is of the Duke, and he is showing dis-pleasure in the way the his last Duchess conducted herself with other men.
The quotes that back these up are, In the Laboratory.
‘Soon at the King’s, a mere lozenge to give
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes
to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her
head,
And her breast and her arms and her hands
should drop dead!’
and in ‘ My Last Duchess’ it was ‘Too easily impressed; she like whate’er.
The writer in the poems are trying to say relationships break down for one reason or another, in these cases it’s infidelity, one person casting off someone for others, and in ‘The Laboratory’ she is fascinated with the process of how the alchemist makes the poisons, she thinks the poisons are beautiful, but they are very deadly, she uses beautiful words to make the poisons seem beautiful e.g.
‘ And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
sure to taste sweet,- is that poison too.’
She wants the poisons to be quick and effective, and if they suffer it would be a bonus.
The poets wrote them this way because they are ballade, and use rhyme and rhythm almost as if telling a story, the poets use alliteration ‘which is the poison to poison her prithee’ and onomatopoeia ‘Grind, Mash, Pound’ and in ‘My Last Duchess’ he uses similes ‘look as if she were alive’. ‘ My Last Duchess’ doesn’t need any poetic devises its almost like a stream of thought, he asks a question and then answers it himself, it’s almost as if he’s giving a lecture.
My reaction to both poems was interested, I found the poems interesting especially ‘The Laboratory’ it caught my eye be cause it was of jealousy and about people who wanted to get revenge, it has got rhythm, and was very exciting.
