Comparison of 'My Last Duchess' with 'Porphyria's Lover', by Robert Browning.

Both these poems were written in the mid-1800s, by Robert Browning, and are examples of his earlier works. He was one of the pioneers of the dramatic monologue form, which is used in both the poems. Browning described the dramatic monologue form as "Action in character, rather than character in action." He means that the personality and thoughts of the character are revealed in the poem, and it is not centered on their actions. The form allows the poet to hide behind a fictitious first person speaker. In these poems, the persona reveals aspects of his life through suggested and hidden narrative, rather than directly spoken.
'Porphyria's lover' is the monologue of a man, in love with a woman named Porphyria. The man knows he cannot keep Porphyria for ever, and so takes drastic steps in order for Porphyria to always be his. 'My Last Duchess' is a monologue by a 16th century Italian Renaissance Duke, showing the emissary of a count around his court, and subtly conveying the emissary a wa...