My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Question 1

List 4 quotes.

Answer 1

1. ‘I gave commands;
   Then all smiles stopped together’
2. ‘Notice Neptune, though,
   Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity ¦ Which Claus of Innsbruck
   cast in bronze for me!
3. ‘Duchess’
4. ‘Half-flush that dies along her throat.’

Question 2

Analyse:
‘I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together’

Answer 2

• He uses euphemism to make it
  sound less harsh.
• Casually says that he killed his last wife and moves on which shows his power that even if he told someone he murdered another person nothing would happen.
• Narcissistic
• The poem is written in heroic couplets and Iambic pentameter, which refers to how ordered the Duke is/ Makes it sound childish as this is a game for him.

Question 3

Analyse:
‘Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity¦ Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

Answer 3

• The Duke sees himself as a God, Neptune, and wants to tame sea horses (his wives).
• Uses analogy of God to show his power and wealth.

Question 4

Analyse:
‘Duchess’

Answer 4

• Doesn’t refer to her as wife which shows he refers to her as and object/ obsessed with titles.
• Obsessed with titles and status.

Question 5

Analyse:
‘Half-flush that dies along her
throat.’

Answer 5

• Sinister tone.
• The words are semantically linked to murder and die.