My last duchess Flashcards
Who wrote My last Duchess?
Robert Browning
What are the main themes in the poem?
- Gender
- Power
- Inequality
What inequality was there for women in the 1800s?
- Women had no rights
- Women belonged to their husbands
What is the poem’s form?
It is a dramatic monologue
As the poem is a dramatic monologue, what does it suggest?
-The power and control that the Duke has as we do not even hear the listener
How does the stanza length undermine the Duke’s power?
As it is one long stanza, it suggests he is unable to control his emotions about what he did, so it suggests that he has a lack of power.
What does the enjambment suggest?
The Duke does not have the power to control the sentence length as they flow from one line to the next.
In the first line “That’s my last duchess”, what does the pronoun “my” suggest?
That the Duke believes his ex-wife belongs to him.
What can you infer about the rhetorical question “Will’t please you sit and look at her?”
It is actually a command, emphasizing the power of the duke.
What does “‘twas not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy” suggest?
It was not only her husband that caused the “spot of joy”
What does “half-flush that dies along her throat” imply?
That the Duke had her throat slit
Give 3 quotes where the duke questions her loyalty:
“Too soon made glad”
“Too easily impressed”
“Her looks went everywhere”
When the Duke questions her loyalty, what do they emphasize?
-The frustration, anger and jealousy the Duke felt.
“She thanked….”
“She thanked men good!but thanked somehow I know not how”
What does the “she thanked men good…” quote suggest the Duke believed?
His wife was unfaithful.
