My Last Duchess

Words: 393
Pages: 2

Through elevated language, couplets, and iambic pentameter, Robert Browning's poem “My Last Duchess” reveals the Duke’s character as deceptive yet formal and sophisticated. These characteristics are utilized by the Duke to manipulate the mind of the Count’s servant. The presence of elevated language in the poem suggests that the Duke is intelligent and clever with his speech.The phrase “will’t please you sit and look at her?” is a polite demand from the Duke to the Count’s servant.The servant’s silence throughout the Duke’s speech demonstrates that the Duke’s rhetoric is effective. Additionally, his language is fluid which hints that the Duke is a man with a plan in mind and is not speaking without a purpose. The fluidity in the Duke’s speech