my last duchess

Question 1

what is the form of the poem, my last duchess

Answer 1

• written as a dramatic monologue
• emphasises the duke’s self importance

Question 2

“that’s my last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive. I call”

Answer 2

• rhyming couplets, the duke creates a sense of wholeness
• he want to have another partner
• contrasts with the lack of equality between the duke and the duchess, the duke is far more important
• speech is rehearsed, which is surprising considering he discusses the murder of his last wife
• shows how he thinks he is above the law, shows the dangers of patriarchal society (men have too much power)

Question 3

“painted on the wall”

Answer 3

• this is a fresco being painted on the wall
• frescos are painted quickly before the plaster dried
• gives a sense of urgency in the duke, he does not decide to have her painted until he decides to have her killed
• shows the duke’s vicious and callous nature, he wants the duchess killed immediately

Question 4

“twas not her husband’s presence only”

Answer 4

• alternative interpretation: “only”, suggests that he was there while Fra Pandolf was painting the fresco, suggesting there could not have been a sexual relationship between him and the duchess

Question 5

“called that spot of joy”

Answer 5

• “spot”, motif, has been used throughout many plays such as macbeth to symbolise guilt, duke is suggesting that the wife has been sinful and should therefore feel guilty

Question 6

“as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift”

Answer 6

• the duchess has not learned her place in the class system
• shows that status does not mean anything to the duchess as she appreciates worthless items such as a mule or cherries
• “ranked”, rhymes with, “thanked”, in the previous line, 11 syllable lines when compared to the 10 syllable lines in the rest of the monologue shows the duke loses control in the poem

Question 7

“but who passed without much the same smile?”

Answer 7

• rhetoric, shows the dukes anger
• implies the duchess smiles at the duke in the same way she does everyone else, which is why he “gave commands”, as he believes the duchess is showing a lack of respect
• “passed”, euphemism for death, shows his psychopathic nature, “all smiles stopped together”, he wants her death to be sudden

Question 8

“notice neptune, though, taming a sea-horse”

Answer 8

• shows the duke’s narcissism, he sees himself as Neptune, a god, due to his power
• “sea horse”, represents the last duchess who he has tried to tame, while also representing the count’s daughter who he also hopes to tame
  contextualisation:
• men in victorian society are treated like gods and women are treated as sub-human, who are meant to be tamed by man