My Last Duchess by ROBERT BROWNING

conflict

conflict between how the speaker presents himself and who he actually is

power

browning is criticising the absolute power the speaker had over his wife

my last duchess

possesive pronoun , implies she is like property a sense of owner

A heart- shall I say ? - too soon made glad

use of interrogative phrase indicates how its not just her husband who can make her blush , easily pleased

who passed without much the same smile

rhetorical question conveys the Dukes arrogance that his duchess shared the same smile with everyone else not just him

I gave commands then all smiles stopped

the declarative phrase '' I gave commands'' is indicating that he had his wife killed to stop her rom smiling at others

comparison poems

checking out me history ; the abuse of power and the power of identity

ozymandias ; compare the fact that the duke craves power with the dead kings attributes and desires

context

based on the llife of an Victorian Duke from the sixteenth century called Alonso the Duke of Ferrera

key themes

power of humans, control jealousy , possesivness , political and sociapower

structure

ryhming couplets and iambic pentameter mirrors Dukes controlling nature