17.1.6

My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Test yourself

Key Quotations in My Last Duchess

Here are some quotations you might want to remember for your exam:

Illustrative background for “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall”Illustrative background for “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall” ?? "content

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

  • Possessive pronoun.
  • Use of possessive pronoun “my” throughout links to the Duke’s view that his wife belonged to him.
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“Will't please you sit and look at her?”

  • Rhetorical question.
  • The Duke is posing this as a question, but it is really a command. Emphasises his power and his pride.
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“Since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I”

  • Curtain symbol.
  • Shows he controlled her even in death.
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“As if she ranked / My gift..."

  • “As if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift.”
  • Irony.
  • Implies the Duke is jealous, despite his arrogance.
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“This grew; I gave commands..."

  • “This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.”
  • This is one of the most famous lines in the poem – it implies that he had her killed.
  • The use of caesura and short phrases highlight the swiftness, coldness and ruthlessness with which he disposed of her life.
Illustrative background for “Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse”Illustrative background for “Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse” ?? "content

“Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse”

  • Boastful language to end the poem.

Key Comparisons: My Last Duchess

Here are some suggestions for texts you could compare in your exam. Of course, the list of possibilities is endless!

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Human power and the misuse of power

  • On the theme of human power and the misuse of power, you might want to compare My Last Duchess to:
    • Ozymandias.
    • London.
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Power of memory

  • On the theme of the power of memory, you might want to compare My Last Duchess to:
    • War Photographer.
    • Kamikaze.
    • The Emigree.
    • Remains.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

17Recap: Main Quotes

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