Killings

“How Annandale Went Out,” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and “My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, are poems about killings. The killings in each poem, however, are completely different. Robinson’s poem is about euthanasia, while Browning’s is about a murder. Both poems are dramatic monologues, and appear to be very different; however, both authors use the monologues to get their messages across. How Annandale Went Out” is about a patient, Annandale, in a hospital …

…understand the writing, which is somewhat foreign. Both Robinson and Browning use the monologue to orient the reader to the subject of the poem. Robinson makes the reader sympathetic toward the speaker, whereas Browning uses the monologue to create a character and make him come alive. Robinson and Browning use the same technique, in dissimilar poems, to relay their messages. Although the content of the poems is different, both poems pose a question about morality.