“We are all storytellers. We all live in a web of stories. There is no stronger bond between people than storytelling. When you see this quote, you can probably imagine people in society, in our daily lives, telling each other stories about what they experienced that day or what happened in the past, what creates a connection, a better insight into that person. However, another way to create connection between people through storytelling is to use different text forms. The two texts I'm comparing today are Robert Browning's poem My Last Duchess and Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion. And through these 2 texts, as a reader, we can form a connection with the composers and understand the message they are trying to convey to us by telling, via various methods, in this case a novel and a poem. After analyzing these two texts, one of the themes that struck me as the composers attempted to convey was the social hierarchy experienced in these relative texts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Robert Browning's poem, My Last Duchess, challenges societal views toward women in 19th-century Victorian England. Set in Renaissance Italy, My Last Duchess, highlights its patriarchal society and invites readers to criticize the values ​​presented. Browning shares a dominant male view of women through a dramatic monologue, showing the possessive nature of the Duke who objects to the Duchess in the painting, "this room is a wonder, now." His domineering character is further expressed in the painting of the Duke's last Duchess, which symbolizes the Duke's jealousy and reputation over the promiscuity of his last Duchess. Browning uses verbal irony, in “She had / A heart – how should I put it?” – too quickly made happy, / Too easily impressed,” to illustrate that the Duke is uttering a phrase completely opposite to the literal meaning. Therefore, Browning foregrounds Victorian attitudes towards women. Additionally, the allusion "Notice Neptune, however, tames a seahorse" uses Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, to represent the power possessed by the Duke, which is used on a delicate and vulnerable seahorse that symbolizes the last Duchess. Browning states her point of view in her poem to share her perspective on the expectations of women, emphasizing that narratives are powerful means of imparting the authors' point of view and inviting readers to establish their points of view. While Browning himself was trying to convey his point of view, the main protagonist of the poem himself was also telling his own story. The Duke, through his monologue, addresses both a character present in the poem, but also the readers of the poem, transmitting his exquisite tastes for women and art, to encourage his ego, highlighting his wealth and social status above his last duchess. In In the Skin of a Lion, through the lens of introverted protagonist Patrick Lewis, Ondaatje metaphorically communicates his ideas regarding immigrant culture and the mistreatment of immigrants in Canada in the early 20th century. Ondaatje's abandonment of chronological stability throughout the text, where multiple perspectives are considered, reminds readers how perspective can give voice to the hidden decisions of history. The terrible working conditions of migrant workers, which social history has chosen to ignore, are described.