MLD second attempt

I used Caitlin's as a guide as you suggested for structuring this answer, i hope it is an improvement on last time.

My Last Duchess tells the story of a Duke as he describes the story of his last Duchess and her flaws to a man who is to arrange his next marriage. He shows him a painting of her while complaining about her.

Browning uses characterisation to tell the story. The duke is obsessed with power and beauty, shown through his love and collection of art, and the many references to the Duchess's appearance rather than personality, "spot of joy into the Duchess' cheek". His obsession with power comes across through him being offended that she "ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with any other gift", so he resorted to "I gave commands and all smiles stopped" to apparently stop her smiling, although it seems it could have stopped her altogether as she is now dead. The idea that the Duke killed her is reinforced through the case building, shown through the rambling thought-like speech and enjambement, and other hints that he may have killed her, "looking as if she were alive".

Browning also uses voice to tell the story, through the form of dramatic monologue. It is clear that MLD is a dramatic monologue as only the Duke speaks, a character, and there is also an implied listener - the servant who is arranging his next marriage. The fact that the Duke is constantly talking could be a reflection of his status and obsession with power, it also shows how the Duke biomes more powerful and dominant, by not stopping to allow the servant to talk at all. Similar to case building, the use of enjambement also quickens the pace of the voice, implying a growing hatred towards his last Duchess.

Browning also uses setting to display journey and tell the story, as the entire monologue takes place in the one spot in front of her painting in the gallery. This shows how the Duke hasn't yet moved on from the Duchess, how she still has power over him, even from death, as he still wants to control her. By painting her onto the wall, and not onto canvas which is then hung, it shows how she is permanently on his mind, still controlling him, therefore pressuring his drive for power still. It shows that the Duke hasn't made a mental journey at all, but merely attempted an emotional one, as he is in exactly the same place mentally as at the start.