My Last Duchess Questions and Answers
My Last Duchess
How is the poem "My Last Duchess" a dramatic monologue?
A dramatic monologue is a narrative-style poem in which a fictional speaker unwittingly reveals their true character while describing some series of events. “My Last Duchess” is a poem in which a...
My Last Duchess
My Last Duchess Character Analysis
The duke in the poem "My Last Duchess" has many of the classic traits of a narcissistic personality, including an inflated sense of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, problems with...
My Last Duchess
How does the Duke describe his last duchess?
The Duke describes the last Duchess as if she were wanton with her attention, inadequately class conscious and overly friendly. As rowens says, his primary complaint is that she does not treat him...
My Last Duchess
Fra Pandolf
The Duke is showing off his art collection to his visitor. Like many art collectors, the Duke is more proud of the value of his collection than of the artistic merit. A large part of the value of...
My Last Duchess
What is the purpose/message of "My Last Duchess," and how is this message conveyed?
"My Last Duchess" deals with the age-old theme of appearance versus reality. The Duke thought that his late wife had everything he could possibly want in a woman. Young, pretty, attractive, and...
My Last Duchess
How is power presented in "My Last Duchess"?
Power can be positional, personal, coercive, or persuasive. The power presented by the duke in "My Last Duchess" is positional and coercive. Positional power comes from the outside authority a...
My Last Duchess
What are the metaphors used in the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning?
Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" does not rely heavily on metaphors. It is rather a monologue delivered by the speaker describing a painting of his wife and his wife as a person when she was...
My Last Duchess
What is the tone of the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning?
Tone reveals a poet's attitude toward their subject. In this poem the tone is darkly ironic. Browning uses the duke's own words to show that he is a disturbed individual who has committed an...
My Last Duchess
In "My Last Duchess", what does the Duke want to tell the envoy?
The Duke probably wants to do two things: show off his acquisitions (what he considers his late wife), considering he is especially proud of them. But more importantly, he wants to send a covert...
My Last Duchess
What is the irony in "My Last Duchess"?
There are a couple of different types of irony at work in this poem. First, there is dramatic irony, which is created when the audience knows something that a character does not know. We can think...
My Last Duchess
What happened to the duchess in Browning's "My Last Duchess"?
In this poem, the duke addresses the servant of a man, a "Count," who has come to discuss the terms of a wedding to take place between the duke and the Count's daughter. The duke refers to the...
My Last Duchess
What is a metaphor and where can I find one in "My Last Duchess"?
Here is another example of a metaphor in some lines from "My Last Duchess": Who'd stoop to blameThis sort of trifling? Even had you skillIn speech--(which I have not)--to make your willQuite clear...
My Last Duchess
In "My Last Duchess", is there any significance to the last three lines about Neptune taming a sea horse?
Browning wanted to indicate that this room contained a number of works of art. It seems to be the Duke's private study or library. He has brought the visitor up here for a confidential discussion...
My Last Duchess
What does the Duke in "My Last Duchess" reveal about himself through literary techniques?
Through the use of symbols, the Duke reveals himself to be a man who desires total and complete power and submission from those around him. This desire for power and control is symbolized in the...
My Last Duchess
What is the impact of Browning's choice of speaker on the development of the duchess in his poem "My Last Duchess"?
This is an excellent question, for the identity of speaker is central to understanding not only the relationship between the speaker and his wife, but also in better understanding his "last...
My Last Duchess
This grew,I gave commands;Then all smiles stopped together. Explain this line.
The line in question simply means that the Duke ordered his wife killed. Now he is looking for another wife, and the person he is speaking to in this dramatic monologue is a representative of the...
My Last Duchess
Explain these lines: That's my last duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive. I call / That piece...
In the opening lines of “My Last Duchess,” the Duke of Ferrara is showing an emissary from another court a painting of his late wife, the eponymous duchess. The emissary has been sent to the Duke...
My Last Duchess
In "My Last Duchess," how might the statue of Neptune referred to at the end of the poem symbolise the Duke?
This is a very astute observation you have made. Let us remember that the dramatic monologue reveals the way in which the Duke tried to gain mastery over his last wife. His perceived inability to...
My Last Duchess
What flaw does the duke identify in his last duchess?
The so-called flaw the duke identified in his last duchess was her heart, which was "too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." He complains that she blushed no matter who complimented her, that...
My Last Duchess
How is memory presented in "My Last Duchess"?
In “My Last Duchess,” the Duke of Ferrara shows a visitor the portrait of his most recent wife, who is deceased. Although admiring how beautiful and lifelike the painted subject is, he recalls her...
My Last Duchess
How are relationships presented in Robert Browning's My Last Duchess?
There are several relationships in Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess."The relationship between the Duke and the Duchess, like that between the Duke and his art objects, is often described as that...
My Last Duchess
How does the duke describe Fra Pandolf's activities in "My Last Duchess" and why is this important?
Fra Pandolf painted the deceased Duchess's portrait. He and the Duchess apparently got along well, as he was able to bring the color—a "blush"—to her cheeks. To most people, the ability of a...
My Last Duchess
What impression of the Duchess is the Duke trying to convey to his listener? What impression of her is actually...
The Duke is trying to convey to the listener, who has come to broker a new marriage for the Duke, that his deceased wife was disloyal to him. He blames her for not bestowing her love, affection,...
My Last Duchess
Explain the following excerpt with reference from the context of "My Last Duchess": "She had / A heart—how shall I...
Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess” depicts a duke telling someone about his former wife. Presumably, the listener is a representative of a count, who is there to arrange a...
My Last Duchess
How does the revelation in lines 45–47 of "My Last Duchess" impact the development of the Duke's character over the...
The revelation contained by these lines is that the duke’s “last duchess” is no longer alive and that he is responsible, in a very direct way, for her death. He claims that he “gave commands” and...
My Last Duchess
Please give an explanation of the following lines from "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. Or there exceed the...
You have managed to select the heart of this poem, and some of the most disturbing lines ever written in literature, in my opinion. These lines tell us the fate of the poor last Duchess, and how...
My Last Duchess
Analyze the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning.
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning comes from an actual historical incident. In the sixteenth century Italy, Duke Ferrara married fourteen year-old Lucrezia, who died within two years. The Duke...
My Last Duchess
What is the significance of the title "My Last Duchess" by Browning?
The true significance of the title is only discovered at the end of the poem, when the dramatic monologue is placed into context and the reader realises who the duke is speaking to about his former...
My Last Duchess
What is important about the title, "My Last Duchess"????
The title of the poem is derived from the first sentence uttered by the Duke who is showing the painting to an important visitor. His way of describing his late wife characterizes him as...
My Last Duchess
Why was the duke unhappy with his first wife? What does this reveal about the duke and what does the poem title...
In the poem, the duke was unhappy with his wife for a number of reasons. First of all, in lines 14–15, the duke says that his wife often blushed at others. Specifically, this "spot of joy" on her...
My Last Duchess
Which images does Browning use repeatedly in “My Last Duchess”? What does this repetition reveal about the speaker’s...
Browning's poem is narrated by a Duke and addressed to an envoy. In the poem, the Duke complains that his last Duchess did not respect him as much as he thinks she should have. He implies to the...
My Last Duchess
In “my Last Duchess” By Robert Browning, How Did The Duchess Displease The Duke?
It occurs to me that there were several things the Duke could have done with his young wife if he decided he didn't want her. He was powerful enough to have gotten a divorce, even from the Catholic...
My Last Duchess
If the Duke was unhappy with the Duchess's behavior, why didn't he make his displeasure known?
In the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning, the speaker makes clear that the Duchess he is speaking of was a rather fickle person in life—who was, in his view, "too easily impressed" and...
My Last Duchess
In "My Last Duchess" why does Fra Pandolf say "Her mantle laps / Over my Lady's wrist too much in?" (lines 16,17)
In these lines from "My Last Duchess," the Duke is speculating on why the Duchess blushed ("spot of joy") while the portrait was being painted. The Duke notes that the Duchess was too flirtatious...
My Last Duchess
Where is dramatic irony presented in "My Last Duchess"?
Arguably, the greatest moment of dramatic irony in this poem occurs at the end, when the reader realizes that the person to whom the Duke is speaking has been sent to approve a marriage contract...
My Last Duchess
What are some Italian Renaissance elements found in "My Last Duchess"?
The Duke of Ferrara who narrates "My Last Duchess" is what Browning would consider a prototypical Renaissance Italian character. He may be based on Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October...
My Last Duchess
Who is the speaker in "My Last Duchess"?
According to the article on "Historical Context" in the eNotes Study Guide: The incident the poem dramatizes comes from the life of Alfonso II, a nobleman of Spanish origin who was Duke of Ferrara...
My Last Duchess
Contrast the characters of the duke and the duchess from ''My Last Duchess."
Besides the fact that he has no apparent regard for human life or individuality, the Duke is a complete snob while the Duchess is not. This difference was the source of their biggest, and perhaps...
My Last Duchess
What is the significance of the Duke's visitor in the poem and what their presence reveals about the events...
To his guest the duke, says, The Count your master's known munificence Is ample warrant that no just pretenseOf mine for dowry will be disallowed;Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowedAt...
My Last Duchess
What does the the poem "My Last Duchess" suggest about the Duke's attitude towards women?
The monologue by the Duke clearly shows him as a cold, selfish, arrrogant, and extremely proud man. His attitude towards women is that they are chattels, property. This, of course, is especially...
My Last Duchess
Why does the duke hide the painting of the duchess behind a curtain?
The duke keeps the painting of the duchess behind a curtain as a means of postmortem control. That is, he wants control over who gets to see her image. As the reader comes to realize, the duke did...
My Last Duchess
In the following excerpt from "My Last Duchess," by Robert Browning, what can you infer about the Duchess? ...
It is clear from the extract that the Duchess had no prejudice and that she treated everyone equally. She would compliment anyone and everyone she felt deserved praise for doing her a kindness. Her...
My Last Duchess
Why is "My Last Duchess" a dramatic monologue?
The poem "My Last Duchess" is an example of a dramatic monologue because it features an imagined or fictionalized speaker who addresses a silent listener. In addition, it provides real...
My Last Duchess
In "My Last Duchess," what repetition occurs and what imagery/symbolism is there?
My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue. There's not as much symoblism in the poem as there is reading between the lines or inferences. As the Duke is speaking (he doesn't really repeat any...
My Last Duchess
give an explanation of these lines 'Half-flush that dies along her throat:' such stuffWas courtesy, she thought, and...
The speaker in the poem "My Last Duchess" is presumably the Duke, her husband. Throughout the poem, he expresses his displeasure at the young lady's joy. She finds joy in things like a sunset...
My Last Duchess
What is the dominant point of view in "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning?
In terms of a first person, second person, third person point of view, "My Last Duchess" is told from the first person perspective. This means that the speaker or narrator is also a character. This...
My Last Duchess
What does the duke mean by the question "who passed without / Much the same smile" in lines 44–45?
Of his last duchess, the duke was irritated that she had a heart which was "too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." He wanted his wife to appreciate him and the gifts he bestowed upon her more...
My Last Duchess
1 What could be a thesis statement for "My Last Duchess?" 2 Works cited for the "My Last Duchess." 3 How could...
1. Your thesis statement would depend on your critical analysis: what do you consider the most important theme or point of the poem? Is it that the Duke was jealous of his wife for not liking him...
My Last Duchess
What is the Duke's motive to speak this monologue in "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning?
The Duke's motive for speaking the monologue titled "My Last Duchess" is ostensibly to show his visitor part of his art collection, but it is actually to negotiate the dowry he can expect to...
My Last Duchess
What is the critical appreciation of "My Last Duchess"?
Browning's "My Last Duchess" is partly an important poem because of its unusual point of view. The poem is told using first person, which means that the readers should be able to closely access the...
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