My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Question 1

What are the themes in my last duchess?

Answer 1

• power of man
• abuse of power
• power of memory/identity
• conflict of thoughts

Question 2

context in my last duchess:

Answer 2

• Poem was published in 1842
• Browning may have been inspired by the story of an Italian duke (Duke of Ferara): his wife died in suspicious circumstances and it was rumoured that she had been poisoned

Question 3

form and structure in my last duchess:

Answer 3

• Dramatic monologue
• iambic pentameter
• speech pretending to be a conversation - he doesn’t allow the other person to speak
• enjambment - portrays his rambling tone and is not in control with his anger which shows his unstability
• heavy use of caesurae (comma and dashes) - stuttering effect shows his anger
• dramatic irony - the reader can read between the lines and see that the duke’s comments have a more sinister undertone

Question 4

“My Last Duchess”

Answer 4

• “My” - possessive, objects not people
• “Last” - going to be another, disposable
• “Duchess” - no name, just title, only important because married to the Duke

Question 5

“my last Duchess painted on the wall”

Answer 5

• the Duke is showing off the art
• sounds as if he owns the Duchess herself, not just the painting of her

Question 6

“Looking as if she were alive”

Answer 6

• sets a sinister tone
• the Duchess is dead

Question 7

“Will’t you please sit and look at her?”

Answer 7

• Rhetorical Question
• odd
• a command disguised as a question
• shows the Duke’s obsession with power
• shows how controlling the Duke is

Question 8

“since none puts by/The curtain I have drawn for you”

Answer 8

• he controls who can see the picture (who can see the Duchess)
• he couldn’t control who looked at her when she was alive
• the Duke hides the picture

Question 9

“spot/Of joy”

Answer 9

• Enjambment / Repetition
• Enjambment is continuing a line after the line breaks. Whereas many poems end lines with the natural pause at the end of a phrase or with punctuation as end-stopped lines, enjambment ends a line in the middle of a phrase, allowing it to continue onto the next line as an enjambed line.
• she’s blushing - he dismisses it as ridiculous
• repetition = shows that it bothers the Duke
• establishes the motive of jealousy - he wanted to be the only one to make her blush

Question 10

“her looks went everywhere”

Answer 10

• Metaphor
• accusing her of being flirtatious, when she was just being friendly
• the Duke is: controlling, psycho, jealous, possessive, insecure

Question 11

“nine-hundred-years-old name”

Answer 11

• this is what matters to the Duke: status & prestige
• the Duchess isn’t properly grateful
• he values his family name and feels it defines his worth
• shows the Duke’s pride
• the Duchess was beneath the Duke in status yet against his authority

Question 12

“I gave commands/Then all smiles stopped together”

Answer 12

• he gave orders, had her killed
• sibilance ‘s’ = sinister (evil)
• horrible - who would destroy happiness?
• a euphemism for his wife’s murder
• shows the Duke’s power & control over another person
• may imply weakness as he got someone else to do it

Question 13

“no just pretence/Of mine for dowry will be disallowed”

Answer 13

• the Duke is already arranging his next marriage
• dowry = bride price
• shows his lack of empathy

Question 14

“Notice Neptune”

Answer 14

• pointing out art
• the reader is reminded that the Duchess is now nothing but a piece in his art collection

Question 15

“Taming a sea-horse”

Answer 15

• Metaphor
• symbolic of the Duke ‘taming’ his bride
• shows the Duke’s controlling, oppressive manner

Question 16

“for me!”

Answer 16

• because ‘I’ (the Duke) is the most important
• selfishness and shows his hubris