My Last Duchess Flashcards
“Ferrara”
Ferrara is a region of Italy
in 1561, the Duke of Ferrara’s wife died in suspicious circumstances - there were rumours she was poisoned
hearing about this event probably inspired Browning to write this poem
“my last Duchess painted on the wall”
sounds as if he owns the Duchess herself, not just the painting of her
“looking as if she were alive”
sets a sinister tone
“will’t please you sit and look at her?”
sounds polite, but he’s really being quite forceful here
“I said”
the punctuation doesn’t end the line, with the Duke speaking again immediately - he doesn’t give his visitor a chance to speak
“none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I”
he controls who looks at the painting, but he couldn’t control who looked at his wife when she was alive
“if they durst”
suggests people were scared of his temper
“not the first are you to turn and ask thus”
creates an impression of a question from the visitor, but we hear it through the Duke - he’s in complete control
“that spot of joy”
repetition - shows that his wife’s blushes bother him
“dies” “throat”
reference to death is out of place and suspicious - it hints at the Duchess’s fate
“how shall I say?”
the Duke struggles to express his irritation
“too soon made glad, too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on”
she was cheery and friendly - but the Duke means this as a criticism
“her looks went everywhere”
she flirted a lot - the Duke thinks so anyway
“sir, t’was all one”
he sounds as if he’s justifying himself - he’s defensive
“the bough of cherries some officious fool broke into the orchard for her, the white mule”
enjambment makes it sound as if he’s getting carried away by his anger
