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My Last Duchess - Coggle Diagram
My Last Duchess
Feelings and attitudes
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Jealousy. He couldn't stand the way the Duchess treated him the same as everyone else. (lines 31-34)
Power. The Duke enjoys the control he has over the painting. He didn't have this power over the Duchess when she was alive
Power of humans
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There are hints the Duke had his wife killed- "I gave command;/ Then all smiles stopped" has a sinister tone. Its lack of explanation suggests he doesn't feel he has to account for his actions
The poem's form also reflects his absolute power- although there is a visitor present, we only hear the Duke's voice, and the use of rhyming couplets reflects his rigid control
Negative Emotions. Pride
The Duke is proud if his name, art collection and reputation. What he viewed as the flirtatious behaviour of his last Duchess hurt his pride- she didn't appreciate his "gift" of a nine-hundred-years-old name.
The poem hints that this all led to the Duchess's death- the Duke arrogantly boasts that he was too proud even to criticise her behaviour("I chose/Never to stoop"). Instead he had her killed.
Several of the Duke's comments t his visitor alse display his arrogance e.g. "Will't please you sit and look at her?" is almost a command- the visitor has no choice but to sit and admire and portrait.
Identity
Belonging to a family is an important part of human identity, however the Duke's pride and stubbornness overtakes that feeling.
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About
The Duke proudly points out the portrait of the Duchess (his former wife) to a visitor. The Duke was angered by the Duchess's behaviour - she was friendly towards everyone and he was annoyed that she treated him just like anyone else. He acted to stop the Duchess's flirtatious behaviour, but he doesn't say how he did this. There are strong hints that he had her murdered. The Duke and his guest walk away from the painting and the reader discovers that the Duke's visitor has come to arrange the Duke's next marriage
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Dramatic Irony
The things the Duke says about the Duchess seem quite innocent, but they often have more sinister meanings for the reader. There's a gap between what the Duke tells his listener, and what the poet allows us to read between the lines
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The narrator is Duke Alfonso II who ruled in Ferrara between 1559 and 1597. The Duchess of whom he speaks was his first wife, Lucrezia de' Medici, who died aged 17 in suspicious circumstances and might have been poisoned.
The change in tone is used to show the sinister undertones and power struggle in the relationship, he is the only one truly at conflict here
The poet ironically shows that his man is rich and educated yet a fool in matters of love and honesty,