My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 17.1.6
Key Quotations in My Last Duchess
Here are some quotations you might want to remember for your exam:
“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.
“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.
“Since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I”
- Curtain symbol.
- Shows he controlled her even in death.
“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.
“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.
“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!
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.
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.
Test yourself on My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Which of these quotes does NOT suggest that the Duke is controlling?