Poem - My Last Duchess

Question 1

An iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets gives the reader a sense that…..

Answer 1

The author is in control

Question 2

This poem is about a real Duke: Duke Ferrara from the 17th century. What is the relevance of this?

Answer 2

The 17th century was a time period when women’s sexuality was dangerous

Question 3

This poem is about a controversial marraige. How does this relate to author Robert Browning?

Answer 3

Browning also had a controversial marriage.

Question 4

What is the significance of his “last Duchess painted on the wall”?

Answer 4

She can no longer be slutty and sleep around with other men - annoying him. This is because she is a painting and paintings aren’t real.

Question 5

This poem has little imagery. Instead it has lots of…

Answer 5

Characterisation

Question 6

This poem has lots of ambiguity. For example…

Answer 6

How many other duchess’s?

Question 7

This poem could be the recollection of events told by an unreliable/biased and vain narrator. One way we see this is by the narrator identifying himself as powerful.

Answer 7

This is conveyed in tone and the meaning of poem (can’t find suitable quote)

Question 8

This poem is a dramatic monologue. What does this actually mean? (four answers)

Answer 8

Spoken to big audience
About power over people
Narrator creates for himself an inaccurate (made-up) persona
Live action imagery

Question 9

What is the main point of this poem, why and to who is he saying this stuff to.

Answer 9

He is reciting this poem to a servant of a Count. He is doing this because he wants to marry the Counts daughter. 👰🏻

Question 10

This quote is talking about the Count’s daughter. It shows the Duke’s power and also how his previous, cheating, duchess affected him.

Answer 10

“His fair daughters self” … “is my object”

Question 11

This poem has lots of this sort of punctuating technique

Answer 11

Caesurae

Question 12

This quote shows how much the Duke likes art other than paintings. It also shows how his power can be very permanent.

Answer 12

cast in bronze

Question 13

Why did Robert Browning write poems?

Answer 13

Browning often used his poems, particularly monologues like this, to criticise society

Question 14

This quote alludes to the Duke’s suspicions of what his wife is up to. He doesn’t know what she gets up to with men.

Answer 14

She thanked men-good! But thanked somehow - I know not how

Question 15

This quote shows how important and powerful the Duke was in his time

Answer 15

My gift of a nine-hundred -years-old name

Question 16

In this quote, the Duke expresses how he thinks she should concentrate on important things like social status rather than nature

Answer 16

The bough of cherries some officious fool broke in the orchard for her

Question 17

This quote shows the dukes jealousy and angry. He describes one of his wife’s admirers as …

Answer 17

Some officious fool

Question 18

This quote indicates that she is below the Duke and therefore should listen to him.

Answer 18

Stoop to blame

Question 19

This verb draws more attention to the social hierarchy.

Answer 19

Ranked

Question 20

The Duke is portrayed as this god, whilst she is presented as one of his subjects

Answer 20

Duke = Neptune
She = sea-horse
Neptune is god of sea, so he controls her

Question 21

What does the Duke allude to in lines 43-47?

Answer 21

That he stopped his wife talking to other men, but doesn’t say how he stopped her.

Question 22

This quote clearly shows the gap between the Duke and Duchess

Answer 22

‘Twas not her husbands presence only [that made her happy]

Question 23

This creates a dark and sinister mood from the beginning of the poem

Answer 23

As if she were alive

Question 24

There are many possessive pronouns throughout My Last Duchess

Answer 24

“My” and “mine”

Question 25

This poem is made to sound like a speech by using…?

Answer 25

Enjambment

Question 26

In this quote, Browning uses commands to further emphasise the Duke’s power

Answer 26

Will’t please you sit and look at her?

Question 27

In the poem it is suggested that the Duke has ultimate power over…

Answer 27

Life and death

Question 28

What annoys the Duke?

Answer 28

His wife’s lack of subservience to his high status