lines rhyming. Upon reading this poem,it almost seems more like a fairy-tale than a poem. The Lady of Shallot appears to be thedame in distress and Sir Lancelot is the hero that will rescue her. Lady of Shallot is cursedin that she can only see the world through her mirror. If she were to look down toCamelot, she would die. “A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot.She know not what the curse may be” (40-42) However, one day “she left the web, she left the loom, she made three pacesthrough the room, she saw the water lily bloom, she saw the helmet and the plume, Shelooked down to Camelot.” (ln 109-113) Lady Shalott breaks the curse and sees thingsthrough her own eyes rather than through the mirror. Nonetheless, Lady Shalott slowlybegins to die. “Till her blood was frozen slowly,And her eyes were darkened wholly, Turned to towered Camelot.For ere she reached upon the tideThe first house by the waterside,Singing in her song she died, The Lady of Shalott”(147-153)In “My Last Duchess,” it is read like a prose but it is put into poetic form. However, “My Last Duchess,” in a dramatic monologue rather than a poem. A dramaticmonologue is a kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or morelisteners who replies are not given in the poem. Here, the Duke Ferrara is speaking to anenvoy about his first, who is apparently dead. From what the Duke is telling the envoy,one can conclude that the Duke is arrogant, domineering, and very insecure about hisrelationship. It appears that the Duke would only tolerate the Duchess attending to him. “... ‘twas notHer husband presence only, called that spotOf joy into the Duchess’ cheek(13-15)The Duchess is portrayed as someone that is easily pleased. “A heart--shall I say?--too soon made glad,Too easily impressed; she liked whate’erShe looked on, and her looks went ev...
