My Last Duchess Flashcards
1
Q
Quotes p.1.
A
“painted on the wall”
“Looking as if she were alive”
“Frà pandolf by design”
“none puts by The curtain I have drawn”… “but I”
“they would ask me, if they durst”
“not her husband’s presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek”
2
Q
Quotes p.2.
A
“perhaps Frà Pandolf chanced to say”
“Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat”
“Too easily impressed”
“she liked whate’er”
“her looks went everywhere”
she “thanked men” “as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift”
3
Q
Quotes p.3.
A
repetition of “stoop” “I choose Never to stoop”
“I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together”
“Notice Neptune” … “Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity”
“cast in bronze for me!”
4
Q
STRUCTURE
A
- Framed by the visit to the Duke’s gallery; Duke gets caught up in talking about Duchess instead of just describing art
- Builds towards a kind of confession, before identity of visitor is revealed and duke moves on to talking about another artwork
5
Q
FORM
A
- Dramatic monologue written in iambic pentameter
> reinforces impression Duke is in conversation with his visitor - Rhyming couplets show Duke’s desire for control
- Enjambment suggests he gets carried away with his anger and passions
- All create a picture of unstable character; obsession with power is unsettling
