Duke of Ferrera vs. Ulysses

We know that the Dramatic Monologue won in its category, but what will happen when we put 2 of the dramatic monologue's finest together and tell them to brawl? One's a duke, but one's a king, and a war hero, so who would win?  The Duke of Ferrera, the speaker in Browning's My Last Duchess is powerful and wealthy, but also arrogant, with a twisted sense of justice, while Ulysses the speaker and title of Tennyson's poem (I think I'm docking points for the lack of creative title) was once mighty and powerful but is now aging, down but not out. Now while the Duke cannot deny that he has a violent streak a mile wide (He killed his wife-for smiling), it is implied that he is too good and proud and pompous to actually kill anyone himself. But Ulysses, he was in the Trojan war, so would have no qualms about killing, but hasn't had to do anything like that since the war, which was a long time ago. Ulysses is a king though, with an entire army to command, and how much power does a simple Duke of Italy have? How big is Ithaca anyways? I also wonder if Ulysses would actually make it to Italy, he is known for getting lost, and what's his status with the Grecian gods? That would easily determine his fate.
Who would win?
Ulysses
He might not be the youngest or strongest, but at least he isn't a slimy sociopath with a knack for taking people out, like he's the mob or something. Besides kings always beat dukes. It's like a cardinal rule of noblemen.

Knight vs. Ulysses

Two very noble men, two very important people of their time, 2 men with not enough respect or time for their sons, two warriors. The knight of the Canterbury Tales and Ulysses of the same-named dramatic monologue have more in common than meets the eye. So similar, in fact that how am I to decide between the pair? Lets start with basics, like how the knight is of a much lower standing than the King of Ithaca. But the knight appears to have a higher power on his side, having been said to be very pious and follow the laws of chivalry, where as the ancient Greek gods seems to always be squabbling as to whether Ulysses is a decent guy, it took 10 years for them to let him come home, and the knight could take advantage of that pretty quick. Besides who want to watch a fight that takes 10 years to resolve? ( But isn't that the plot of the Illiad?) Still Ulysses has an army of questionable size (size of Ithaca still undetermined), while the knight might be able to round up some soldiers of dubious ability and that would be it. Both men are determined, however, to make something of the rest of their short lifespans before they bite the dust, especially Ulysses, who is bored of his life in Ithaca. ( God it must be soooo boring to be a king and have everything done for you, I feel so bad...) But in the end only one will stand tall and be proclaimed winner.

And the winner is.....
Ulysses

While he might be a bit whiny about his first world problems, Ulysses does have the power and prestige to wipe out the knight. But, in fairness to the knight, he would give it his best shot and deny, even on his death bed,that he had ever been beaten, that it was "just a scratch". Hmm that reminds me of another knight, wonder who that could be?

SEMIFINALS!!

We have only 3 more battles until the ultimate lit champion is, thats right it is time for the semifinals! It hardly gets any better than this, and you are in for a treat, as the pairings are thus:

 Blindman (Milton) vs The Devil Himself (Satan)

The One Gods Love to Torment (Ulysses/Odysseus) vs. The Writings of Homer and Milton (Epic)

I think life for these people just got a lot more interesting. They made it this far, but can they go the distance?

And the Quarterfinals commence!

 Now that another 8 contestants have been left behind with only their tears to comfort them, we move forward into the mayhem that is quarterfinals! This is where things start to get interesting folks, so stay tuned!
The matches are as follows:
Gray vs. Milton
Ulysses vs. Geats
Satan vs. Lamb
Petrarch vs. Epic

Ulysses vs. Geats

Going in to this match, the odds are heavily leaning towards Ulysses winning, the Geats appear to be weak without their Beowulf and the Ithacans(?) Ithacites(?), the army of Ithaca and their leader Ulysses seem more than able to crush them. So if you are a supporter of the Geats, I suggest you continue below for this could get mighty ugly. Not to say that the Geats aren't amazing warriors, obviously they have some skill if their army produced Beowulf, and they had a slight technical advantage of the bow and arrow (Ooooo... so high-tech). But the Geats are essentially Swedish, and unless I've seriously missed something, the Swedes aren't exactly known for their military might. Ikea and ABBA, sure, but no great warrior nation. Now the Greeks have a slightly better military track record; they did get invaded by the Romans, but then again so did everyone at some point. They main advantage Ulysses is going to have is his cleverness, as early Europe was at somewhat of a lull in learning and thinking. I mean, the Geats are not going to fall for the horse trick again, but surely Ulysses can think of something? Again, I'm going to assume that Ulysses actually makes it to his destination and doesn't make enemies with the wind or something...

Who would win?

Ulysses

This was not a surprise. I told you what was going to happen. While Ulysses may have less men or a physically weaker army ( or I guess it would be a navy?), the Lit nerd writing this is going to believe that brain is better than brawn (sorry for the cliche...) Feel free to disagree (that rhymes!), but Ulysses is going to have to invest in a compass, because he is on his way to the semifinals!