My Last Duchess Flashcards
Pride
The duke is proud of his possessions and title
“As if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift”
Jealousy and Control
Duke of Ferrera is a possessive psychopath
-She smiled at a man and thanked men for gifts and he hated that
Objectifies her
-Duchess is never given a name
Controlling
-paranoia towards everyone
“How such a glance came there”
-he continues to controls her even after she is dead as she is kept behind a curtain. Controls who sees her.
Power
He enjoys the power he has over his painting as it is kept behind the curtain as he didn’t have control over her
Form
Dramatic monologue - reinforces the impression he is in conversations
Rhyming couplets - desire for control and husband + wife
Enjambement - unstable character, sinister feeling
Later on the poem becomes a confessional poem
Language
Nasty language
- “disgust” and “lessened”
Stresses his arrogance and sinister character
“Taming of a sea-horse”
Metaphor for controlling his old wife and desire to control his new wife
Context
Inferior status of women in Victorian society - objectivity
Upper class man having control and possession over women as an object
Dominance of wealth
