My Last Duchess -> Dramatic Monologue

“That’s my last duchess painted on the wall”

• “my” → possessive pronoun through out the poem shows that the Duke still views the Duchess as his property

• Objectification of women → typical in the 16th century

• “Painted on the wall” → he has immortalised her and has control of her even after death and made her into a trophy and a warning to future duchesses

“Will’t please you sit and look at her?”

• rhetorical question but is really a command, the duke trying to exert his power

• forcing people to notice his wealth and admire his possessions

• he is controlling not only his last wife but also how others perceive her

• “look at her” → Objectifying her, turned her from being a person into a piece of art to admired and analysed

• “please” → an attempt to appear polite as a facard to his need for power over people

“-as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift”

• use of punctuation reveals how angry the duke is getting and has to consciously calm himself down

• illustrates his jealousy despite his arrogance

• portraying the duchess as being ungrateful and having a lack of respect for him, warning his next duchess of what will happen to her if she doesn’t behave

• reveals how materialistic he is

“This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.”

• use of short sentences and caesuras highlights the coldness and ruthlessness at which the Duke disposed of her life

• simple declarative sentence → simplifying and removing any emotion from his horrific actions

• semicolons → symbolic of the separation of power between the duke and duchess and men and women in general

Themes

• Oppression of women → highlights the oppression and objectification of women during the 16th century

• Arrogance, pride and power

First Person (Perspective of the Duke of Ferrara) - Structure

• The duke being the only voice in this poem reveals how controlling he is and he doesn’t allow anyone to interrupt his narrative

• It is only his point of view

Iambic Pentameter - Structure

• Highlights the Duke’s obsession with his reputation and his need for control

Context

• Robert Browning was an Elizabethan poet

• eloped with the women he loved

• travelled around Italy and found out about the duke

• critique of the patriarchal society

Poems to compare to

• Ozymandias → Power of Humans, Pride, Control

• Tissue → Limitations of Human control

• Checking out me history → Power, control, suppression of identity

• London → inequality and power imbalance within society