Learning Path » 5B Interacting
CDeMarchi - My Last Duchess by Browning
by - (2011-02-20)
Up to 5 B - Victorian Poetry. The Dramatic Monologue 
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
1. The character is delineated in a precise setting , Ferrara, in time and place. The poet represents the Duke historically ( in the way in which the character speaks) , he was probably Alfonso II of Este; but also the speaker has been created by the writer.
2. C) 1. The monologue refers to a past and a present situation, thought the paint of the Duchess . The Duke ,describing the picture to a stranger listener, links the past beauty and personality of his wife with the beautiful painting.
2.the personality of the Duke that emerges thought the monologue is : possessive , often the writer uses the possessive pronoun “ my”, proud of his wealth and power, he is very glad to show his assets to the listener and also he is jealous and brutal , because only he had not received the attention of his wife decides to kill her.
3. the Duke for the rule that he covers in the society think to be superior , so for his self-centeredness cannot see how its actions are brutal.
E) the tone of the monologue seems nostalgic but instead the Duke describes his last Duchess in a menacing and cool way.
In My Last Duchess the setting is the city of Ferrara during the Renaissance. The imaginary speaker is the Duke of Ferrara who is addressing a stranger of the Count whose daughter he intends to marry. While negotiating the marriage, he shows him a portrait of his last wife and talks about her. Two very different personalities emerge in the poem. The young wife flushes with joy at very simple things- the sunset, the cherries and the white mule; she is courtesy to everybody including people of lower ranks. The Duke finds it unbearable that she puts the same value on , for example a , “ bough of cherries” as on the gift of his nine-hundred-years-old name. He is proud, class-conscious and possessive. He reveals himself as a tyrant who wants to have absolute control over his wife. As he was unable to, he “ gave commands then all smiles stopped together”. As the men are going below the Duke expresses his confidence that the Count will grant his reasonable request for an ample “ dowry”, quickly adding “ though his fair daughter’s self is my object”. Hi last remark is about a sculpture of Neptune “ Taming a sea horse” which is a visual metaphor for the Duke’s wish to tame those under his control.
1. The character is delineated in a precise setting , Ferrara, in time and place. The poet represents the Duke historically ( in the way in which the character speaks) , he was probably Alfonso II of Este; but also the speaker has been created by the writer.
2. C) 1. The monologue refers to a past and a present situation, thought the paint of the Duchess . The Duke ,describing the picture to a stranger listener, links the past beauty and personality of his wife with the beautiful painting.
2.the personality of the Duke that emerges thought the monologue is : possessive , often the writer uses the possessive pronoun “ my”, proud of his wealth and power, he is very glad to show his assets to the listener and also he is jealous and brutal , because only he had not received the attention of his wife decides to kill her.
3. the Duke for the rule that he covers in the society think to be superior , so for his self-centeredness cannot see how its actions are brutal.
E) the tone of the monologue seems nostalgic but instead the Duke describes his last Duchess in a menacing and cool way.
In My Last Duchess the setting is the city of Ferrara during the Renaissance. The imaginary speaker is the Duke of Ferrara who is addressing a stranger of the Count whose daughter he intends to marry. While negotiating the marriage, he shows him a portrait of his last wife and talks about her. Two very different personalities emerge in the poem. The young wife flushes with joy at very simple things- the sunset, the cherries and the white mule; she is courtesy to everybody including people of lower ranks. The Duke finds it unbearable that she puts the same value on , for example a , “ bough of cherries” as on the gift of his nine-hundred-years-old name. He is proud, class-conscious and possessive. He reveals himself as a tyrant who wants to have absolute control over his wife. As he was unable to, he “ gave commands then all smiles stopped together”. As the men are going below the Duke expresses his confidence that the Count will grant his reasonable request for an ample “ dowry”, quickly adding “ though his fair daughter’s self is my object”. Hi last remark is about a sculpture of Neptune “ Taming a sea horse” which is a visual metaphor for the Duke’s wish to tame those under his control.