Compare 'My Last Duchess' to the soliloquy in Othello (Act 5 scene 2)

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Compare the characterisations in My Last Duchess and Othello’s Soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 2, lines 1-22. How are the contrasts presented and used here to create drama and meaning; how might different audiences respond to such ideas?

        In both the soliloquy in Othello and in ‘My Last Duchess’ we see a dominance in the male character and a certain power within this over the women mentioned. Throughout the soliloquy Othello is addressing a sleeping Desdemona and the fact that she is in this setting (the bed chamber) and in such a situation gives him another level of power over her as she is faced with a certain vulnerability and lack of control over the events to come, while it also suggests an innocence in Desdemona’s character contrasting greatly with Othello’s.  Similarly in ‘My Last Duchess’ we get arguably a larger sense of male dominance in the poem, with Browning using language and form to show this. The metaphor ‘Notice Neptune though, Taming a sea-horse’ suggests that the Duke is very much like Neptune in controlling the Duchess and has the arrogance that Neptune has while she is being controlled. It could possibly also be a metaphor for his future wife, much like the Duchess she will need to be controlled and obedient, and ultimately treat him like a God, which again links with the Neptune metaphor further. A further way Browning presents the Duke as a powerful, controlling man is the fact that he has been killed (ultimately by himself) and now all that stands in her memory is her portrait, which only he and selected others can see. This shows that even though she has been murdered and is no longer with him he still controls her; who sees her and when she is seen which to the viewer suggests that he has power over her both in life and death, however could possibly be interpreted in the sense that he couldn’t fully get the satisfaction of completely controlling her in life but now in death that satisfaction is fulfilled, she is now the ‘object’ that he always wanted but never fully got when she was alive. To the Duke the portrait is not a celebration of her beauty but an object and commodity to show his power. The fact that there is an internal audience gives a further dominant voice for the Duke; he is speaking to a specific person and is engaging that person overall giving him the power without interruption.

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        While we do see a clear authority in the Duke in ‘My Last Duchess’ there is, in my opinion another side to him shown through form, structure and even language to a certain extent. The fact that the poem is a dramatic monologue written in rhyming couplets gives a contrast in the Duke’s behaviour and perception; the stressed beat further reinforces the fact that the Duke is a very ruling character however the unstressed beat suggests the opposite, that there is an element of vulnerability in his traits and a certain insecurity that he feels. We see a certain sense ...

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