My Last Duchess Flashcards
Analyse form in My Last Duchess
- Browning uses form to establish the control that the Duke allegedly has over the reader. The dramatic monologue is very one-sided , there’s the implication that the Duke is in control of us and our thoughts.
- More importantly, we don’t hear the Duchess’side of the story, this alludes to how the voice of Victorian women were silenced. Browning criticises this lack of respect that men, like the Duke, have for other people, more specifically women.
- Alternatively, Browning could also be intentionally creating the impression that Duke is alone – he lost control over his own actions and lost his Duchess
- . However, again, this idea of isolation is dismantled at the end of the poem where the Duke is about to marry off again – we can see that men really do not pay the consequences for their actions towards women.
Analyse the opening of My Last Duchess
- Browning begins his poem by criticizing the possessive nature of men. The Duke claims that’s ‘my last Duchess painted on the wall’’. The possessive pronoun ‘’my’’ fits the Patriarchal society, even in death as a painting, she belongs to him. Following this, he claims she’s ‘’looking as if she were alive’’.
- This line is ambiguous when we first read it, as it makes us unsure whether the painting just looks life-like or if the Duchess is dead. If she is in fact dead, it’s almost dark humor – the Duke could be using her death to entertain himself and his guest. This, not only highlights his callousness, but his disregard for her life and his lack of empathy makes us dislike the Duke.
- Browning, however, could be using the Duke as a representation for controlling men in Victorian England, by portraying him as a villain; he could be deeming all these powerful men as evil. More likely, this could be him could be directly calling for social change..
Analyse structure in My Last Duchess
- Browning juxtaposes the controlling dramatic monologue through the uncontrollable structure. Through the out poem, enjambment flows through out – this could reflect the converstional tone.
- However, more interestingly, it could suggest that the Duke is unable to control himself, which is ironic for someone who sees themselves as so powerful.
- However, there is caesura throughout the poem, Browning controls the way the reader reads the poem in the same way the Duke controlled his wife. Again, this point is drummed home by the 1, long, overwhelming stanza. This lack of control, this overwhelmingness, reflects the Duke’s true character.
- This could be Browning suggesting that, despite men believing they have power, beneath the surface they lack control over themselves.
Analyse the language used in My Last Duchess
Browning highlights how powerful men fear lack of control through the Duke. Throughout the poem, we are told how the Duchess allegedly flirted with other men. In response, the Duke ‘’gave commands Then all the smiles stopped together’’. The sibilance creates a sinister tone, coupled with the ambiguity over what the Duke had done to the Duchess. The noun ‘’commands’’ shows his control over his people – it means literally to have at one’s disposal. The Duke was able to dispose of the Duchess with no questions asked. Through this, Browning encourages people to stand up for women’s rights in Victorian England rather than sitting idle and encourages for these men to face consequences.
Analyse the ending of my Last Duchess
Browning also alludes to God in the ending of My Last Duchess. Dukes encourages the envoy to ‘’Notice Neptune’’ who is ‘’taming a sea-horse’’. Neptune was a Roman God in Roman Mythology – he ruled the ocean. Perhaps Browning is showing the sheer arrogance of the Duke as he believes he is as powerful as a God. Alternatively, Neptune was also the God of Horses – is it that the Duchess is this sea-horse that must be tamed by the Duke?
