'My last duchess' by Browning
- Created by: sp.15
- Created on: 12-12-19 14:33
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- 'My last duchess' by Browning
- Ideas about power and conflict
- The Duke is proud of his status and possessions.
- He is power-mad: he wants to have control over people, including his wife.
- He is jealous that his wife treats him like other people.
- He uses his power to have her killed - now he has control over her painting.
- Context
- Browning is famous for his dramatic monologues.
- Browning uses the time period of the 16th century (1500-1599)
- At that time, Italy was divided into states governed by Dukes.
- The Duke of Ferrara would have been extremely powerful
- Language
- Irony: there's a gap between what the Duke says and what we understand.
- The Duke conceals his murderous jealousy with his sophisticated language.
- Euphemism language: "I gave commands; / then all smiles stopped together"
- Controlling language: "none puts by / the curtain I have drawn for you, but I"
- The Duke mentions lots of possessions to show his status, power and wealth.
- Form
- The poem is from the perspective of the Duke.
- The Duke is speaking to the servant of the father of his next wife.
- Browning uses a dramatic mon-ologue, in which the Duke reveals his character.
- The Duke does not let the servant speak - he is in total power.
- Strict rhyming couplets show the Duke's need for power and control
- But the Duke uses enjambment to conceal his rhymes.
- Structure
- The Duke repeats "I", "me , "my", and "myself" - shows how self centred he is.
- There is a warning towards the end: the Duke implies that if his future wife does not let herself be controlled then he will have her killed.
- The last lines symbolise relationship the Duke wants between him and his wife: "notice Neptune, though" / taming the sea horse" - he will "tame" her.
- Quotations to learn
- "her looks went everywhere"
- "nine-hundred-years-old name"
- "I choose / never to stoop"
- "I gave commands"
- Ideas about power and conflict
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