Superiority and Intensity In “My Last Duchess” If there is one poet that plays on emotions and evokes feeling within his poetry, it is Robert Browning. Particularly in his poem “My Last Duchess,” many techniques and words are used to play on the emotional aspect of his poetry. There are many identifiable feelings involved with this poem, however the feeling of intensity stands out as being a noticeable element throughout Browning’s poem. The focal character is the Duke, who seems to be well spoken and centered at first. As he continues his dialogue about a painting of his previous Duchess that hangs on the wall behind a curtain, there is an overwhelming sense of increasing intensity in the way he is speaking to his listener. He begins to dwell, and continues making remark upon remark about the things that she had done wrong that angered him. There is a sense of build up behind his words and the reader can almost hear the volume of his voice becoming increasingly louder as he continues his dialogue. The entire poem radiates the intense feeling that the Duke is getting ahead of himself as he rants about his former lover. “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, whene’er I…show more content… He then had to bring himself back to reality and suggest a change of scenery. The Duke’s falsely calm mannerism while he is speaking only accentuates the feeling of intensity that is present in the poem. There is something eerie about somebody who is seemingly put-together speaking about a subject matter that enrages them. Browning uses the subtle intensity of the Duke’s words to slowly build up to a strange final sentence before he almost outs himself completely that he had “stopped her from