My Last Duchess

Question 1

What heavily influenced Robert Browning as a child?

Answer 1

His father’s extensive collection of books and art.

Question 2

What languages had Browning learnt by the age of fourteen?

Answer 2

Latin, Greek and French.

Question 3

What poet was Browning a big fan of?

Answer 3

Percy Shelley

Question 4

Who did Browning marry?

Answer 4

Fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett

Question 5

Where did Browning and Elizabeth move to?

Answer 5

Italy

Question 6

What is Browning best known for his use of?

Answer 6

Dramatic Monologue

Question 7

What does My Last Duchess reflect?

Answer 7

Browning’s use of Dramatic Monologue and his love of history and European culture,

Question 8

What is the poem based on?

Answer 8

The life of an Italian Duke from the sixteenth century.

Question 9

True or False?

The characters in this poem are based on real life, historical figures.

Answer 9

True.

The narrator is Duke Alfonso II who ruled a place in northern Italy called Ferrara.

Question 10

What year is the poem set in?

Answer 10

1564, three years after the death of the duchess.

Question 11

What meter is the poem written in?

Answer 11

Iambic pentameter.

Question 12

What does the poet use to mimic unrehearsed speech?

Answer 12

A variety of punctuation.

Question 13

Although the poem is written in rhyming couplets, how is the sense of rhyme lost?

Answer 13

Through the use of enjambment.

Question 14

What does the use of personal pronouns reflect?

Answer 14

The narrator’s high opinion of himself and his selfishness

Question 15

What poem can be compared to My Last Duchess?

Answer 15

Ozymandias

Question 16

Summarise the poem briefly:

Answer 16

The Duke speaks to a messenger sent by a ruler to secure marriage for his daughter.
The Duke boasts about his art and a portrait of his former wife.
It becomes clear that the Duke was controlling and possessive.
It is strongly hinted that he arranged for his ‘last duchess’ to be killed.

Question 17

What are the main ideas that the poem explores?

Answer 17

Arrogance, pride and power
Irony
Oppression of women

Question 18

What is the primary way that the Duke’s obsession with power is illustrated through the poem?

Answer 18

He wants to dominate all aspects of his wife’s life.

Question 19

What is the irony in the poem?

Answer 19

The Duke is trying to impress the messenger but he is just shown as being jealous and insecure.
Reputation and honour were of huge importance to the Duke, this is very ironic, as the poem mocks him and his pompousness.

Question 20

What is the curtain a symbol of?

Answer 20

The Curtain is a powerful symbol of masculine dominance. (Even in death, the Duke has authority over the Duchess)
The curtain is also a reminder that the Duke wasn’t able to control his wife fully when she was alive

Question 21

How is the possessive pronoun of “my” used in the poem?

Answer 21

The possessive pronoun throughout links to the Duke’s view that his wife belonged to him.

Question 22

What line implies that the Duke had the Duchess killed?

Answer 22

“This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.”

Question 23

What is the purpose of the use of caesura in the line “This grew; I gave commands; (…)” ?

Answer 23

To break the line into short phrases, highlighting the swiftness, coldness and ruthlessness with which he disposed of her life.

Question 24

What techniques does Browning use to portray the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and power obsessed?

Answer 24

Rhetorical Questions
Boastful Language
Name-dropping
Aside

Question 25

What is an example of a rhetorical question in the poem used to portray the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and power obsessed?

Answer 25

“Will’t please you sit and look at her?”

• The Duke is posing this as a question, but it is really a command.
• This emphasises his power and his pride.

Question 26

What is an example of boastful language in the poem used to portray the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and power obsessed?

Answer 26

“Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, / Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me”

Question 27

What is an example of name-dropping in the poem used to portray the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and power obsessed?

Answer 27

“Fra Pandolf”

-The Duke is reminding the messenger he is a wealthy man who can afford an expensive painter.

Question 28

What is an example of aside in the poem used to portray the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and power obsessed?

Answer 28

“If they durst”

• establishes that people fear the Duke
• The mentions it to the messenger to show that he wants people to know of his reputation