My Last Duchess Flashcards
“Looking as if she were alive”
Sets up the tone of the poem
Talking about his own wife’s death nonchalantly.
“t’was not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess’ cheek”
“only”
controlling and possessive- her identity should be revolved around him
“spot” is juxtaposed with “joy”
This suggests she blushes so much that it has marked her skin. To the Duke, this mark is unwanted. He sees her as impure and tainted just because she smiled at a man that wasn’t him.
“A heart- how shall I say?- too soon made glad, Too easily impressed”
The dashes show the interruptions in is speech. He is carefully thinking about what he is saying, suggesting that the truth is censored and selected.
He is making sure he paints her out badly whilst maintaining his own image.
Repetition of “too”
Implies he thought of her as an “easy” woman and reveals that she has gone against his expectations of her.
She needs to be tamed and reigned in.
“nine hundred-years-old name”
Hyperbolic
Amplifies his hubristic character
He believes his own name should be enough to make her happy. So he is an unapologetically neglectful husband.
“lessoned”
Treating her like a child and acting like an authority figure over his own wife.
