My Last Duchess Flashcards
Who is the poet of my last duchess ? Give some good contextual points on the port
Robert browning
Born in 1812
Died in 1889 Venice as he moved to Italy in his later life
What are some good contextual points for the poem ?
- religion
- Victorian era
- set in the renaissance
- criticism on the attitudes towards women where a woman was legal property of her husband and sexier inequality
What is the form of the poem ? Why and what affect ? Tie this to the rhyme scheme and meter for a great point
Dramatic monologue
- the dune dominates the narrative with is symbolic of his sexist domination of the women around him
- we too sympathize with the duchess as we feel overwhelmed by this barrage of information and jealousy the Duke conveys to us
- rhyme: tightly controlled couplets
- the rhyme scheme is tightly controlled and monitored throughout the poem just like the duchess was and reflect his control over the duchess
- iambic pentameter: sounds like he is speaking
What is the structure of the poem? Why and what affect
- one verse
- reflect the dukes unwavering and overwhelming control over the narrative
- affect on reader: overhearing and unrelenting reflects the sucked character and we feel sympathetic to the duchess as we are introduced to the domineering character of the Duke in this poem
What are the five quotes you should know for this poem ? Think looks, command, name of painter, possessive and classical
‘Her looks went everywhere’
‘I gave commands’
‘Fra pandolf’
‘ my’
‘ notice Neptune, though, taming a sea horse, thought a rarity
What is a quote showing the dukes jealousy and power ?
‘ her looks went everywhere’
- doubts the duchess’ fidelity and loyalty to him through this hyperbolic statement
- we as the reader feel an underlining sense of fear as the Duke uses the past tense which we as the reader are left questioning wether the duchess is still alive and what happened to her
What is a key quote showing his dominating personality ? Great quote to tie with ‘ her looks went everywhere’
‘I gave commands’
- brutal and bluntly short turse sentence conveying his harsh actions
- ambiguous and leaves the reader questioning what happened to the duchess
What is the only quote showing classical imagery? What and why ?
‘ notice Neptune, though, taming a sea horse, thought a rarity’
- metaphorical imagery of domination as he subtly compares himself to Neptune with the sea horse being representative of the women in his life
- arrogance and equates himself with a god like figure
- NEPTUNE
- classical allusion to Roman mythology
- roman god of the sea and one of 3 gods who split the world in 3 so he is equating himself to an extremely important deity
What is the quote showing the dukes vein attitude ?
‘Fra pandolf’
- vein
- Fra: brother which suggests that whoever they where was religious
- the Duke states he employed a famous artists conveying his materialistic obsessions
What is a great simple quote showing the Duke controlling the duchess ? What and why ?
‘My’
-Possessive pronoun as he views his ‘ last duchess’ as a possession and property of his
-This is repeated throughout the poem to highlight his objectification of the duchess and his controlling personality
