Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Analysis of My Last Duchess
by Robert Browning
- Vocabulary
- Countenance -
face, expression
- Durst - dared
- Mantle - cloak
- Courtesy - polite
- Bough - branch
- Officious - busybody
- Munificence
- generosity
- Warrant -
guarantee
- Avowed - promise
- Dowry - money for
marrying a man's
daughter
- Poet and Background
- Based on the life of
Alfonso II Duke of
Ferrara, Italy
- The Duke's first wife
died in 1561 after 3
years of marriage
- We learn about the Duke by
what he says about his wife
and how he says it
- We learn about
their relationship,
what was
expected, how she
responded
- The Duke is talking to
an emissary of his
future wife's father
- The Duke is only interested in money an
material possessions but his money and
power will not buy him love and respect
- Poetic Techniques
- 'My' - possessive pronoun,
the wife is the Duke's
property
- Dramatic monologue -
one person's point of
view on an incident,
biased
- Written in Iambic Pentameter - beats like
a heartbeat (de dum, de dum). The poem
is about matters of the heart
- Sections in brackets -
internal thoughts
- Ideas and Imagery
- The Duchess is the Duke's
possession and gives him
status
- The Duchess is a modest,
shy person who got
embarrassed by
compliments
- Jealousy - the
Duke's 900 year
old name is more
important than
other gifts e.g.
cherries
- Uses words 'throat',
'breast' associated
with areas of the
body which could be
injured and cause
death
- A curtain covers the portrait
- again a sense of
ownership, a possession
- The Duke had his wife
killed because she was
kind and made him
jealous
- The Duke does not
realise how much of
himself he has given
away in the criticism of
his former wife
- The Duke accidentally
reveals his weaknesses
during the conversation
- The Duke is only interested in money
and material possessions but his
money and power will not buy him
love and respect