my last duchess Flashcards
‘that’s my last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive’
possessive pronoun:
↳ ownership, foreshadows controlling nature
painted on the wall:
↳ the duchess can always remain in the house, she can move him wherever, controlling & objectified
↳ he wouldn’t have had the painting drawn if he didn’t want anyone to see it, he liked the idea of having control
↳ fresco painting
‘I call that piece a wonder, now’
a wonder:
↳ it’s peculiar that he sees a painting of his dead wife as anything other than a sad reminder of her death
now:
↳ he was upset while it was painted, however because she looks alive he is happy with it (control & dominance)
‘will’t please you sit and look at her?’
rhetorical question:
↳ makes this appear as though it is optional, however it comes out commanding, showing his true nature
↳ implies that duke is in sole control of who sees her
‘frà pandolf’
name dropping:
↳ the duke is boasting about his wealth
frà:
↳ truncation on the italian word for friar
↳ envy has corrupted the duke as he believes it is possible his wife would flirt with a monk (vow of chastity)
‘(since no one puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I)’
parenthesis:
↳ imitates the physical barrier of the curtain
↳ the speaker revels in the control he gets from choosing who sees the duchess
‘the dropping of daylight in the west, the bough of cherries some officious fool broke in the orchard for her’
imagery: ‘dropping of daylight’
↳ imagery of the sunset can be seen as a pathetic fallacy, foreshadows end of life just as the day does during sunset
semantic field of beautiful nature: ‘daylight’, ‘cherries’, ‘orchard’
↳ duchess appreciated the nature rather than material possessions,
duke only respects material possessions
↳ expects her to keep her joy &
smiles for him alone - hurts his pride if he is not unique
↳ reliant on controming women to make himself feel powertul and desirable (sense of underlying insecurity)
‘bough of cherries’
↳ sexual innuendo to indicate that she was not a virgin
↳ fruit have connotations of fertility and life which juxtapose with the duchess’s sterile fate
‘my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name’
-he thinks he did her a favour through marriage as he believes she should be in awe of him
-he holds status in society & is boasting
-the woman is now owned by her,
takes his name & loses all legal rights
‘I choose never to stoop’
model verb: ‘never’
↳ egotistical & entitled pride, he believes that talking to his wife about his fears would make him appear
paranoid and weak
↳ suggests there’s no point arguing with a woman as she is far below him, he shouldn’t have to explain it to her she should be obedient and submissive
verb: ‘stoop’
↳ suggests that she is lower than him
‘I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.’
gave commands
↳ portrays the duke’s power over people & his cowardice as he hid behind the actions of those he instructed
euphemism: ‘smiles stopped’
↳ signifies end of her life & end of her happiness
sibilance: ‘smiles stopped’
↳ conveys wickedness, ‘s’ sound is associated with secrecy and the hissing of a snake
caesura:
↳ draws attention to her death & the foreshadowing that the duke caused it
‘notice neptune, though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, which claus of innsbruck cast in bronze for me’
plosives:
↳ passion about art
neptune:
↳ god of sea, the speaker views himself as a god, egotistical
↳ sea is everywhere & is extremely powerful, the speaker believes his power is like the seas
semantic field of wealth: ‘rarity’, ‘bronze’
↳ only values material possessions
exclamative:
↳ we see how the only time he is excited is when discussing something controlling something else, desire for control
zoomorphism:
↳ compares the duchess to an animal
context
-in italy (1561) rumours spread that the duke of ferrara poisoned his wife
-patriarchal society
-was born in London, spent most of life in italy
-in 1845, he married elizabeth barret against her father’s permission, keeping the wedding secret from her domineering father
-he had visited italy shortly before writing the poem
-set in another era and country, but contains a political message and a criticism of victorian society
structure
iambic pentameter:
↳ strict structures are hard to maintain
↳ shows how the duke wishes to control the duchess
no stanzas:
↳ the poem makes it feel overwhelming and tiring, mirrors the duke’s power, suggesting his presence is overwhelming
↳ this power relates to how there is no importance placed on needing to cover up his mistreatment of past wife as he is so powerful it won’t impact him
↳ makes it very obvious that it is only his view that is ever given in any situation or decision, and that the woman is given no say or chance to defend herself
↳ this dominating relates to the patriarchal society
enjambment:
↳ mimics natural speech
form
dramatic monologue
↳ domineering presence of the duke, only one POV (arrogant)
rhyming couplets
↳ desire to be in a coupl
who wrote my last duchess?
robert browning
