The character of La Belle Dame is very different. She is very mysterious and powerful. This gives the impression that she may not be real and could, in fact be a fairy. As well as having this powerful side, the woman, or 'faery' as she is called, seems very sinister and inconsiderate. It seems as if she is bewitching any man she finds, under the spell of her desire for a short romance, costing them their life.
However, as well as having differences in character, they both have similarities with one another. They are both young and beautiful from what we can tell, and are aware that they appeal to men. They are both flirtatious though it seems the Duchess is far too shy and unaware to realise this. They both, also, appreciate the power and simplicity of nature and not for wealth and status which rules the Dukes thoughts. This is shown in the following quote from 'La Belle Dame and the quote above from 'My Last Duchess':- 'She found me roots of relish sweet and honey wild and manna dew'.
There are also many differences in what has happened to them both. The Duchess was killed by the Duke mainly for her lack of interest in him and his wealth, possessions and status. The Belle Dame however, simply vanishes, but also seems to be killing off her ex-lovers by bewitching them with her love. The knight who falls under her spell in the poem describes his visions of these ghostly figures from his dreams after meeting this woman :- 'I saw pale kings and princes too, death pale were they all'. The Duchess was also in love with only one man- the Duke (though he thought otherwise), whilst La belle dame fell in love with many.
The Belle Dame is very aware of her beauty and uses it as a lethal weapon against any man who ventures near her. The Duchess is completely the opposite though. Being very shy, she doesn't realise her true beauty and appeal to men other than the Duke.
Both women, however, have maddening effects on their lovers. The Duchess by making the Duke so jealous of her appeal to other men, that he murders her, and the Belle Dame, by sending the Knight so insane that he simply ventures around the meads 'alone and palely loitering'.
The Duke and Knight play crucial parts in the scenes and themes of both poems. They have very contrasting personalities to one another. The knight is very gullible and naive- in falling in love with a woman he knows is an evil and unreal person- though he can do nothing to prevent this.
In a way, his personality would suit that of the Duchess, as she too is very naïve. The Duke in that instance though is completely the opposite. He is very wealthy, manipulative and arrogant and is only interested in impressing people. This is shown throughout the whole poem, as he is obviously speaking to someone he feels is important about his wife and her murder. He even ends the poem by boasting about 'a bronze statue, of Neptune taming a sea horse cast by Claus of Innsbruck' who was probably someone famous in those days.
The two men are in quite similar situations though; having both just lost a love in failed relationships, though the loss of the Dukes love was deliberate. They are also members of the nobility, being a Duke and Knight. However, there is another difference between them and that is that the knight appreciated natural gifts and wasn't ruled by his status.
The language and context of both poems contrast with each other too. ' La Belle Dame Sans Merci' is written as a ballad. It is designed to be read aloud and to be easy on the ear. This particular ballad differs from others because it has been made to sound as if it had been written 200-300 years before John Keats was even born. It is also written in quatrain but in the pattern of ABCB and revolves around a question and answer. This poem is very ambivalent so it makes you think about what the poem means and contains endstopped punctuation to make a bigger impression upon the reader.
'My Last Duchess' is a dramatic monologue written in rhyming couplets although the endings don't always end with rhyming. The poem also contains run on lines with no particular punctuation at intervals, unlike in 'La Belle Dame'.
The background sources used by Keats and Browning are very unlike. There is a lot of history used in both poems. At the time Robert Browning wrote 'My last Duchess' there was a large influence in Italy in particular over possessions and status. The story of the Borgias family who paid people to kill those they did not like or were not on friendly terms with, also gave him ideas.
John Keats, though, was influenced by the thoughts and beliefs of people in 1795-1821. This was the time in which legends such as monsters and witches were at the centre of everyone's minds. It was the idea of witches, which probably gave Keats the name of his poem. In those times, the word for witch was 'Bedlam' which sounds like 'Belle Dame', so that could be significant.
So, altogether there are many similarities and contrasts between 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' and 'My Last Duchess' and both teach valuable lessons about life but also give insights into the lives and beliefs of some people in those times.
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