My Last Duchess

Question 1

When was My Last Duchess written?

Answer 1

1845

Question 2

When was My Last Duchess set?

Answer 2

The 16th century

Question 3

Who is the protagonist of My Last Duchess?

Answer 3

It is based off a real person, Alfonso II, Duke of Modena and Ferrara in Italy

Question 4

What are the main ideas of My Last Duchess?

Answer 4

Power, dominance, arrogance and pride

Question 5

What happens in My Last Duchess?

Answer 5

The Duke speaks to an emissary and boasts about his art and former wife

Question 6

Who is the emissary in My Last Duchess?

Answer 6

A messenger sent by a ruler from a foreign land to secure marriage for his daughter

Question 7

What do we learn about The Duke in My Last Duchess?

Answer 7

That he was controlling and possessive and possibly arranged for his ‘last duchess’ to be killed. The way he treats her portrait reflects how he treat her alive

Question 8

What ways are the key ideas of arrogance, pride and power presented in My Last Duchess?

Answer 8

The Duke wants to dominate all aspects of his wife’s life, obsessed with pursuing control and his speech is written in iambic pentameter

Question 9

How is irony presented in My Last Duchess?

Answer 9

The Duke wants to be seen as honourable and powerful but actually comes across jealous and insecure

Question 10

In My Last Duchess, reputation and honour were of huge importance to The Duke. How is this ironic?

Answer 10

Because the poem mocks him and his pompousness

Question 11

What does My Last Duchess point out about wealth and status?

Answer 11

That is doesn’t equate to good morals

Question 12

What does My Last Duchess highlight about women in the 16th century?

Answer 12

That they were objectified and oppressed

Question 13

In My Last Duchess, even though she is dead, how does The Duke still have control over The Duchess?

Answer 13

He can decide who looks at her with control over the curtain to reveal her and hide her

Question 14

In My Last Duchess, what is the “curtain” symbolic and a reminder of?

Answer 14

Masculine dominance and how The Duke was unable to control his wife fully when she was alive

Question 15

In My Last Duchess,

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

What does this imply?

Answer 15

That The Duke had his wife killed

Question 16

In My Last Duchess,

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

What technique is this and what does it do?

Answer 16

Caesura (a break in the line) which highlights the swift, cold, ruthlessness of which The Duke (may have) disposed of The Duchess’s life

Question 17

In My Last Duchess, The Duke refers to his wife as “my”. What is this and what does this reveal?

Answer 17

This is a possessive pronoun that reveals The Duke’s view that his wife belonged to him

Question 18

In My Last Duchess,

“Will’s please you sit and look at her?”

This is a rhetorical question but it is really a command. What does this emphasise?

Answer 18

The Duke’s power and command

Question 19

My Last Duchess ends with referencing money and using boastful language. Why?

Answer 19

To leave a lasting impression about The Duke’s arrogance

Question 20

In My Last Duchess, who does The Duke name-drop? Why is this significant?

Answer 20

He name-drops Fra Pandolf, an expensive painter. This reminds the emissary that he is a wealthy man who can afford him

Question 21

In My Last Duchess,

“She thanked men, - good! But thanked/ somehow - I know not how - as if she ranked/ My gift of a nine-hundred-years old name/ With anybody’s gift”

How is The Duke presented as jealous here?

Answer 21

The broken syntax used exposes his frustration at her lack of gratitude towards his name and status

Question 22

In My Last Duchess, in what way does The Duke list the things that made The Duchess smile?

Answer 22

In a way that emphasised how easily pleased she was to put her down

Question 23

What is the effect of My Last Duchess being written in first person?

Answer 23

It makes it seem more conversational, making his actions seem more normalised and acceptable, contradicting the reader’s shock

Question 24

In My Last Duchess, The Duke is the only voice in the poem. What does this suggest?

Answer 24

That he is controlling and doesn’t allow anyone else to interrupt his narrative, emphasising his power

Question 25

In My Last Duchess, what does the fact the poem is written in a dramatic monologue do?

Answer 25

Heighten the reader’s shock of The Duke’s actions because it feels as though he is speaking to us directly

Question 26

What poems can you compare the theme of human power and the misuse of power in My Last Duchess to?

Answer 26

Ozymandias and London

Question 27

What poems can you compare the theme of the power of memory in My Last Duchess to?

Answer 27

War Photographer, Kamikaze, The Emigree and Remains