The form of “A Women to Her Lover” by Christina Walsh it is a four stanza reply to whom she would like to marry. In this poem there is no set rhyme scheme, therefore making the poem irregular and unpredictable. Walsh is making a speech where she is adding more and more on. This shows us that she could be talking to someone else. She gives us this impression by using conjunctions at the beginning of each stanza i.e. “Or”, and “But” is used at the beginning of the final 3 stanzas This poem is a lot different to other poems such as “Remember” where the form is as a sonnet so therefore there is an apparent form to it.
The form of “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a Dramatic Monologue written in Iambic Pentameter. I t makes the poem like a conversation rather than a poem as it is written in rhyming couplets. The rhyming couplets make it feel like a conversation because it allows the poem to flow more easily
For example: “Looking as if she were alive. I call”
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The language in “My last duchess” is very complex and powerful, for example “countenance” and “officious”. It is used to show the duke’s upper-class upbringing and enjoyment of vast power.
There are many rhetorical questions used in “My last duchess” as it is a dramatic monologue. They show that the duke enjoys people agreeing to his thoughts. For example “Will’t please you sit and look at her? ’ Frà Pandolf’…” shows that the duke is pleased about the portrait being shown and reckons the people there also do.
In “A woman to her lover” Walsh shows us what was expected of woman during this time. Ironically she stands up to it, which was not expected of woman during this time. She shows us that she will not have a dominant husband and that she deserves equal rights. For example she makes decisions on what man she wants rather than vice versa.
In “My last duchess” there is only one exclamation mark at the very end. He uses it when he has finished talking about his old wife, and then goes on to one of his possessions.
In “A woman to her lover” she uses similes and metaphors to show her disgust to what is expected of her from a man, such as “as conqueror to the vanquished” and “A wingless angel who can do no wrong”.
But in “My Last Duchess” he uses metaphors to show that he thinks that he should be allowed to control women, such as “taming a sea-horse”. This means that he feels that women are as easy to control, as a sea horse.
Walsh repeats “Or if” in the 2nd and 3rd stanzas of “A women to her lover” and at the end of the 1st and 2nd stanzas she repeats “I refuse you”. This shows again her disgust for men.
But in “My last duchess, there are no repetitions.
In conclusion, “A Women to Her lover” shows her disgust for men, but we are later revealed that her perfect man would be one whom treats her as an equal. But, in “My last duchess” we are told that the duke is chauvinistic and sees a woman as an object or a pet.
