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My Last Dutchess - Robert Browning (Quotes ("stooping" -…
My Last Dutchess - Robert Browning
Themes
Jealousy and pride: his own jealousy led the Duke to suspect his wife's infidelity.
Violence, power and control: he is so obsessed with controlling his wife that he uses his power to have her killed
Quotes
"i gave commands" "there she stands" - caesura highlights the sinister euphemism.
"depth" "passion" "earnest"- emotive language create a semantic field of heartbreak and love. Highlights how strongly he believes no one but her husband should see her feelings
"stooping" - repetition shows hes true feelings
"how shall i say" - The self- interruption suggests spontaneity, but this is a rehearsal speech that the Duke has given many times.
"Looking as if she were alive" - Paintings do not die, and shes only an object to him.
Context
The Duke unwillingly reveals the true character of both himself & the Dutchess through the things he says about her.
Published in 1842.
The poem explores power relations in marriage.
Structure:
The poem is a dramatic monologue
The poem is written in iambic pentameter .
Poems it can be compared with:
Storm on the Island
Remains
Ozymandias
The prelude