Poetry - My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Question 1

Give context for ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 1

• Duke of Ferrara (Alfonzo II) is considered to be inspiration for the poem. His wife died under suspicious circumstances, and the Duke was believed to be the murderer. He had other wives later on
• The poem was written during the Industrial Revolution, when society was starting to demand equality (beginning of suffrage movement)
• MLD was set in the Italian resistance, when art was very valued in society, resulting in the focus of the poem (portrait was his dead, first wife)

Question 2

Describe the iambic pentameter in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 2

• Iambic pentameter was often used in Shakespeare’s plays to indicate a character’s wealth and high status
• Highlights the Duke’s obsession with his reputation and now he was viewed

Question 3

Describe the dramatic monologue in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 3

• Heightens the reader’s shock at the Duke’s action because it feels as though he is speaking to us directly

Question 4

Describe the irony in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 4

• Although the Duke is trying to impress the messenger, with the impressions that he has ultimate power, the way he speaks about his wife shows him to be jealous and insecure
• Reputation and honour were of huge importance to the Duke but the poem mocks his pompousness
• The poem points that wealth and status doesn’t equate to good morals

Question 5

Describe the arrogance, pride and power in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 5

• The Duke wants to dominate all aspects of his wife’s life. This is the primary way we see his obsession with power in the poem
• The way he speaks to the messenger, and the fact that his speech is written in controlled iambic pentameter highlights this

Question 6

Describe the oppression of women in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 6

• Even in death, the Duke has authority over the Duchess as he decides who looks at her
• The curtain became a powerful symbol of masculine dominance, it’s a reminder that the Duke was unable to control his wife fully when she was alive

Question 7

Describe symbolism in ‘My Last Duchess’
“Since none pouts by The…”

Answer 7

• “Since none pouts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I.”
• Even in death, the Duke still controls his wife
• The way he treats the portraits is symbolic of the way he treated her when she was alive

Question 8

Describe the hinting that the Duke had his wife killed
“This grew; I gave commands;…’

Answer 8

• “This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together.”
• The caesura and short phrases highlights the swiftness, coldness and ruthlessness with which he disposed of her life

Question 9

Describe the possessive pronouns used in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 9

• The use of the possessive pronoun “my” throughout links to the Duke’s view that his wife belonged to him

Question 10

Describe the rhetorical question used in ‘My Last Duchess’
‘Will’t please you sit…’

Answer 10

• “Will’t please you sit and look at her?”
• The Duke is posing this a question, but it is really a command
• This emphasises his power and his pride

Question 11

Describe the boastful language used in ‘My Last Duchess’
“Notice Neptune, though,…’

Answer 11

• The poem finishes with referencing money
• “Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse”
• Neptune is the God of Sea, the Duke sees himself as God taming women

Question 12

Describe the broken syntax used in ‘My Last Duchess’

Answer 12

• “She thanked men, - good!… as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift.”
• The Duke is horrified that she did not appreciate his name and the status that came with that
• His fragmented syntax and exclamation coveys his anger and frustration at her lack of gratitude