My Last Duchess Flashcards
(4 cards)
Form
Dramatic monologue-The duke is the only speaker.
Context
Written by Robert Browning, first published in 1842. The duke believes his previous wife had an affair and is showing a portrait of his deceased wife to a visitor.
Patriarchy the duke is both a victim and a cheerleader for patriarchy.
It is what makes him power power fall what makes him very weak.
Key quotes
“Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I”.
“E’en then would be some stooping and I choose never to stoop.”
“Then all smiles stopped together”
Language and structural techniques
Quote 1-Browning uses the juxtaposition.
He believes he is powerful but it actually shows he is insecure.
He is holding on to any sign of power over his wife.
The wife still has control over him even if she has died.
The duke can not get over what his wife did to him because maybe she was the one woman he was unable to control.
It foreshadows an eventual downfall.
Enjambment and sibilance
Quote 2-The duke lists all the bad things about her previous wife and then says I never told her how to behave because he did not want to appear less powerful in the verb ‘stooping’.
Quote 3-This is caesura and symbolism and it implies that he killed her. The symbolism of ‘together’ means everything ended at the same time. The irregular pause shows how her life was cut short. She was not supposed to die.
