My Last Duchess

My Last Duchess

Duke is narrator
1. He creates the tone of the poem
  1. Cruel
  2. Ruthless
  3. conversational style
  4. almost as if talking to himself - trying to justify what he did
10 syllables per line
1. iambic pentameter
2. Even structure of poem is controlled - like the Duke
Even through all his riches, the Duke cannot seem to find true love
'Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse'
1. Power he has over the sea-horse
  1. metaphorically the Duke is Neptune and the Duchess is the sea horse
    1. He sees himself like a God
    2. Because he couldn't 'tame' her, he had to put her down
Duke of Ferrara
1. Dominant
2. Possessive
  1. 'as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody's gift'
    1. He expects her to be only devoted to him
3. Narcissistic
  1. 'since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I'
    1. only he can look at the painting
4. Accidentally reveals some of his weaknesses
  1. 'even had you skill in speech -(which I have not)-
    1. He can't speak to her. Can't tell her that he disagrees with her ways
Language
1. 'My last duchess'
  1. Ambiguous
    1. last as in previous?
    2. last as in never having another duchess/
2. ' as if she were alive'
  1. ambiguous
    1. is she alive?
      1. confuses audience

Resource summary

	Created by soraya haynes about 6 years ago