My Last Duchess

Question 1

Give a brief synopsis of the poem.

Answer 1

• Duke is showing a painting of his dead wife to a visitor
• Has it hidden behind a curtain - makes the visitor sit down to admire it
• Praises the artist who painted it
• Points out duchess’ blush - suggests she was flirting and being complimented
• Laments over wife being “too easily pleased” - criticises her for appearing to favour other men
• Claims he was not eloquent enough to tell her to stop
• So he had orders for her to be killed
• Then discusses with the visitor arrangements for his next marriage
• Points out statue upon leaving

Question 2

‘My last duchess’

Answer 2

The speaker establishes control from the very start (possessive pronoun ‘my’)

Question 3

‘If she were alive’

Answer 3

Ominous, suggests the Duke viewing the subject of his dead wife as a piece of art rather than sentimentally as his wife, suggesting that she was only ever a possession to him.

Question 4

‘Will’t please you sit and look at her?’

Answer 4

The Duke forces his visitor to sit down (rhetorical question), implying the Duke is in sole control of who sees her. Emphasises the sinister tone.

Question 5

‘If they durst’

Answer 5

Shows he has power over others and people are scared of him, so they wouldn’t dare ask him about the painting.

Question 6

‘Her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess’ cheek’

Answer 6

Unreasonable to expect her to only gain joy from her husband. He expects to be her entire life and purpose in life. Her life has the aim of pleasing and being pleased by him. Complete domination of her life, as well as presenting him as paranoid.

Question 7

‘Fra Pandolf chanced to say’

Answer 7

Fra is the prefix for a monk, showing that the Duke has been completely corrupted by envy as he believes it’s possible for his wife to flirt with a monk.

Question 8

‘The bough of cherries some officious fool broke in the orchard for her’

Answer 8

He wants his wealth and status to be more important, showing his materialism. He doesn’t value natural beauty and natural pleasures of the earth. Sees her liking other things as a criticism of himself. Presents him as insecure. Expects her to reserve her joy and smiles for him alone. Hurts his pride if he is not unique. Reliant on controlling women to make himself feel powerful and desirable. Sense of underlying vulnerability.

Question 9

‘As if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift.’

Answer 9

Shows he holds status and power within society, boasting about this but also a reflection about how the woman is now owned by her husband, as she has to take his name and then loses all legal rights.

Question 10

‘Who’d stoop to blame this sort of trifling?’

Answer 10

This line shows the Duke’s entitled male pride: he won’t lower himself to talk to his wife and confront her about what he fears, as it would show him as paranoid and weak. It also suggests there’s no point arguing with a woman as she is so far below him, and incapable of rational thinking, and he shouldn’t have to explain it to her - she should be meek and obedient and submissive.

Question 11

‘I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.’

Answer 11

Euphemism for her murder. Shows the power he has - can just kill her without consequence, but also shows such an overreaction - murder is a sign of lack of control.

Question 12

‘Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity’

Answer 12

The metaphor of Neptune suggests he sees himself as god-like - men are gods that must ‘tame’ their wives. Shows the excessive hubris and pride of the Duke. Shows he is extremely materialistic, as he condemns her for finding nature beautiful but places a lot of value in a statue ‘thought a rarity’. Clearly, he believes his status and wealth should be seen as more valuable than anything available to the common man!

Question 13

‘For me!’

Answer 13

By ending the poem with the phrase ‘for me’, the impression he leaves the envoy and the audience is that the Duke feels everything must be for him and him alone and he desires the feeling of exclusive ownership.

Question 14

What is the perspective and how does it affect the poem?

Answer 14

It’s a persona poem. The speaker is taking on the persona of the Duke of Ferra. This allows Browning to use the character to give the reader a message about the wider context of the time. It’s a first person narrative (dramatic monologue), giving the speaker a great deal of power over the text as he can control what he tells the reader. This reflects the power the Duke holds over women and his subjects, which could be extended to the readers too. The first person narration also means the content could be biased, exaggerated or untrue.

Question 15

How does the structure affect the poem?

Answer 15

• Written in iambic pentameter, a classic of English poetry. This reflects how the Duke holds traditional and conservative views of women, further emphasised by the poem being set in the past. Also shows the Duke’s sense of pride and superiority because the meter has a very tight control of rhythm and rhyme.
• There is only one verse, making the poem feel overwhelming and tiring. This mirrors the Duke’s power, suggesting his presence is overwhelming as he dominates the room and the poem
• Enjambment is used, making the poem feel more like a natural conversation, reinforced by the fact that the rhyming couplets aren’t obvious. It also presents him as weak and unbalanced, as he is getting carried away and rambling.
• Caesura is used, showing his speech as poorly planned or formed as he keeps interrupting himself. (“ - how shall I say?”)

Question 16

What is the symbolism in the poem?

Answer 16

• Objectification of the Duchess by portraying her as a painting. His control over the painting is an extension of his control over her, demonstrated through the line “None puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I”.
• The speaker moves seamlessly from discussing his last wife to his new wife, suggesting she wasn’t special to him and was disposable. The statue of Neptune also creates parallels to the Duke who has attempted to use his domestic power to ‘tame’ a wife that was ‘too easily impressed’.

Question 17

Which poems can it be compared to?

Answer 17

• Ozymandias - both poems suggest overarchingly that humanity’s pride/power is unfounded e.g. in Ozymandias, the poet shows a loss of power over time and in competition with nature, as the characters are surrounded by desert, a symbol of nature and time. Similarly MLD shows the Duke’s power constantly undermined by the use of enjambment, caesura and single-stanza. In both poems, the origin of pride is love for oneself and one’s power. This is expressed in Ozymandias through the form of the Sonnet, as it is a love poem to show the king’s love for himself. In MLD the Duke loves his ‘nine-hundred-year-old name’ and feels entitled to authority and control because of it. Whilst both poets overarchingly suggest that pride and power leads to oppression, the subjects of the oppression are different in each poem. For MLD, the Duchess is shown as the symbol of oppression, whereas in Ozymandias the statue is used as a symbol for all institutes or figures of power - “cold command”.
• Checking Out Me History - both poets utilise a first-person narrative, but have different defining structural choices which provide textual depth: in COMH, Agard uses phonetic spelling, and in MLD Browning uses rhyming couplets. These both show that the texts are very much products of their time and the society they were written in and about. It also suggests that in COMH, the speaker feels he has no power in the society he is living in, while in MLD the speaker has an abundance of power. Both poems use allusionary language, but to contrasting effect. In COMH, metaphors such as “bandage up me eye with my own history” serve to highlight how Agard had a lack of power as a child, which meant he wasn’t able to learn about his culture. On the other hand, the allusions the Duke makes to having his wife killed (e.g. euphemism “I gave commands, then all smiles stopped together.”) show how his status and wealth has afforded him an excess of power which he is now free to abuse without consequence.