My last Duchess - Robert Browning
Context
Victorian england
Attitudes to women
not same education, angel of the house
suffragette movement growing, equal rights
religion
growth in science
Form
Dramatic monologue
legal property of husband
Duke is in a conversation with a visitor
rhyming couplets show dukes control
enjambment shows he gets carried away with his anger
unstable character, obsession with power
"the bough cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule"
"she thanked mean,- good! but thanked somehow- I know not how -as if she ranked
punctuation shows a stuttering affect
Structure
framed by the visit to the dukes gallery
poem builds to a confession
identity of the visitor is given
"no just pretence of mine for dowry will be disallowed"
Duke starts talking about his last duchess instead of the art
"then all smiles stopped all together"
Power and objectification
duke felt the need to have power and control over the duchess
the duchess was one of his possessions to be looked at and admired like his artwork
"my last duchess painted on the wall"
"none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I"
"no just pretence of mine for dowry will be disallowed"
Dramatic Irony
things duke says about the duchess seem innocent but often have more sinister meanings
"that spot of joy"
repeated show his wifes blushes bothered him
"Dies along her throat"
"her looks went everywhere"
she flirted alot
Status
status is really important to the duke
cares about how others see him
"my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name"
"stoop" repeated duke felt his wife was beneath him"
Attitudes
Pride
Jealousy
Power