My Last Duchess

Description

Mind Map on My Last Duchess, created by Big Boy on 11/11/2017.
Big Boy
Mind Map by Big Boy, updated more than 1 year ago More Less
Big Boy
Created by Big Boy about 7 years ago
Big Boy
Copied by Big Boy about 7 years ago
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Resource summary

My Last Duchess
  1. Language
    1. There are lots of personal pronouns in this poem, as one might expect in this situation but in this case they are significant as one of the themes is the narrator's high opinion of himself and his selfishness.
      1. The ex-wife is almost refered to as an object, like at the begining where he says "that is my wife"
        1. This could mean that he does not have much respect respect for the woman
        2. THEMES
          1. Pride is not an attractive quality: the Duke's arrogance comes across quite clearly when talking about himself and his things.
            1. Being upper class and having good morals don't necessarily go together: people of great wealth and breeding often considered themselves to be morally superior to others - the Duke shows that isn't the case.
              1. Money and possessions aren't everything: he might have a wonderful house, terrace, orchard, paintings and statues but his paranoia about his late wife comes across and reflects his insecurity.
              2. The poem uses dramatic irony where the writer drops little hints that the Duke has killed his ex-wife whereas the guest doesnt. he does this by frequently saying something related to her state of being
                1. This changes our opinion even further of the Duke as it portrays him as a murderer or something along those lines
              3. Context
                1. Robert Browning (1812-1889) was heavily influenced as a youngster by his father's extensive collection of books and art. His father was a bank clerk and collected thousands of books, some of which were hundreds of years old and written in languages such as Greek and Hebrew.
                  1. He was a big fan of the poet Shelley and asked for all of Shelley's works for his thirteenth birthday.
                    1. My Last Duchess is an example of this and it also reflects Browning's love of history and European culture as the story is based on the life of an Italian Duke from the sixteenth century.
                    2. Structure
                      1. This is one long speech, pretending to be a conversation
                        1. t is divided up into rhyming couplets but to mimic unrehearsed speech there are lots of twists and turns within the lines, shown by a variety of punctuation
                          1. The poem is structured like a block
                            1. This could be interpreted like a photo frame as almost all of the poem, it is talking about a photo
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