My Last Duchess Questions and Answers | XI WBCHSE 2nd Semester
Give the substance of the poem ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning?
OR,
Discuss the main theme of the poem “My Last Duchess”?
OR,
Describe the central idea of the poem “My Last Duchess”?
Ans. The main theme of the poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning are jealousy, control and insanity which are enhanced through the motifs of communication and art. The poem is related to art and artist. The poem is about an Italian Duke, who has supposedly killed his first wife and is now planning De for another wedding to another woman. He displays a painting of his dead wife in his house, and reveals edt it to a visitor, who was made to sit and admire it. The main themes in the poem are pride and jealousy, discernment and hierarchy, and art and truth. The poem presents a portrait of the duke’s pride and jealousy which drives him to violent extremes. The monologue centers around the difference between the success’s broad tastes and the duke’s strict discernment. The poem explores the ways in which works of art can express contradictory truths.
Justify the title of the poem “My Last Duchess.”
Ans. The word ‘My’ in the title of the poem, hints that the poem is in the first person and also sets up the narrator as possessive. And the word ‘Last’ implies that this Duchess is one from several and unidentifiable initially from the title. Actually, ‘My” refers to the duke Alfonso II, the 5th duke of Ferrara. And perhaps the duchess refers to Lucrezia who died by consuming poison. This historical fact is taken by Browning to serve his purpose of writing a dramatic monologue. Here the duke speaks in presence of the ambassador of a foreign country whose daughter he is going to marry. The duke reveals this critical moment of life. In doing so he appears to be proud, arrogant, naughty, jealous, heartless, greedy and hypocritical. The character of the duchess is also well delineated. She is lovable, sweet, and innocent. The personal intimate touch of the duke and the duchess is revealed through the title. So the title, ‘My Last Duchess’ is apt and appropriate.
Describe the character of Duke in the poem “My Last Duchess.”
Ans. In Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” a portrait of the egocentric and power loving Duke of Ferrara is painted for us. Although the duke’s monologue appears on the surfact to be about his late wife, a close reading will show that the mention of his last duchess is merely a side note in his self-important speech. Browning uses the dramatic monologue from very skillfully to show us the controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits the duke possessed without ever mentioning them explicity. The Duke is not simply an overprotective, jealous mammal (who supposedly murdered his wife for smiling too much), but he is also an arrogant nobleman who is solely concerned with himself, his title, and his fortune. By the end of the poem a large list of characteristics may be used to define the Duke’s personality, which is narcissistic, ego-centric, mentally disordered, selfish, arrogant, narrow minded manipulative, materialistic, and worst of all, most certainly a serial killer.
Describe the character of Duchess in the poem “My Last Duchess”.
Ans. The Duke and the Duchess are poles apart. This poem is a close psychological study of character and situation that explores the Renaissance spirit. Unlike the Duke, the Duchess was lovely and sweet in nature. She was courteous, humble and frank. She did not indulge in any sort of discrimination whereas her husband was a pampered, pretentious and selfish person, she was full of sympathy and understanding. The Duchess had innate goodness and generosity.
Describe the setting of the poem, “My Last Duchess”.
Ans. The setting of Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is in Italy. The poem is set in the Italian town of Ferrara during the Renaissance period. The Duke [who is also the speaker] is supposedly Alfonso II. Alfonso is the fifth Duke of Ferrara and he lived during the 16th century. The Last Duchess is considered to be Lucrezia de Medici, wife of Alfonso. Robert Browning portrays the character of the Duke with egoistic attitude and a man who likes to dominate the scene rather than getting deluged by the ideas of others. An emissary visits the recently widowed Duke and the dramatic monologue begins.
Is “My Last Duchess” based on a real story? Discuss it.
Ans. This poem is set in 1564 and is based on the real-life Duke Alfonsoll who ruled Ferrara, Italy in the latter half of the 16th century. Alfonso married Lucrezia (the Duchess of the poem) when she was only fourteen. Lucrezia died on April 21, 1561 aged 17, unspoiled and possibly a virgin. There was grave suspicion that she had been poisoned. Soon after her death the Duke began negotiations for the hand of Barbara, the daughter of Ferdinand I and niece of the count of Tyrol.
Compare and contrast between Duke and Duchess.
Ans. The Duke’s character is mentioned in the poem primarily via his acts, rather than through his words jealousy, arrogance, control, suspicion and possessiveness are some of the characteristics expressed by the poet. The Duchess was frank, good-natured and unsophisticated. She used to smile at everyone and on every occasion. She had no sense of discrimination. Everything pleased her, she was unable to maintain courtly decorum for the family of nine hundred years old reputation.
Consider Browning’s “My Last Duchess” as a dramatic monologue.
Ans. The dramatic monologue is a title drama where a single person utters the poem in specific situation at a critical moment. The speaker addresses to and interacts with another listener whose presence and responses are only assumed. Here the opening and the situation of Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is monologue dramatic. The Duke is the single speaker and he speaks to the ambassador of the count whose daughter is being sought in marriage by the widowed Duke of Ferrara. The presence of the envoy is felt through his gestures and postures. “My Last Duchess” is categorized as dramatic monologue for all these features like a Bue single speaker, ② the objective of the poet, the presence of some characters, the revealation of the character of the speaker, dramatic mode.
“That piece of wonder”-What is referred to as ‘that piece’? Why is the piece called a wonder?
Ans. Here ‘that piece’ refers to the portrait or the picture of the last Duchess painted on the wall it is the picture of the late Duchess of the Duke that murdered here. This picture is a marvelous thing.
The Duke called the painting of his dead Duchess a wonder because of two reasons. First, it was the passionate look in the painting that he admired it even more than the lady whom it represents. Secondly, it feeds his vanity that a celebrated artist like Fra Pandolf has agreed to paint his insignificant wife’s portrait.
“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall”-Who is the speaker? What is remarkable about the portrait? Explain the line.
Ans. The speaker is the Duke of Ferrara in Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess”
The portrait remains curtained in the wall of the room which nobody can unveil except the Duke.
The first word “That’s” is stressed then it would seem that Ferrara reduces a woman, once his spouse, to something inanimate, a thing on a wall. Then again if “my” is emphasized, then Ferrara reveals his sense of owning here. A pause over “last” and one might infer that duchesses, to him, come in sequence, like collectibles that if necessary, having become obsolescent are to be replaced. If “Duchess” gets the stress, he implies that he acquires not just works of art, but persons, and that Duchesses are no different from paintings.
“A heart everywhere.”-Where are the lines taken from? What does “too soon made glad” mean? Does the Duke view his Duchess favourably in these lines.
Ans. The lines above are taken from Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” written during the reign of Queen Victoria.
In the line ‘too soon made glad’ the duke is describing the personality of the Duchess. According to him, she had a heart which can be easily impressed or moved and made happy even by little acts of courtesy shown to her by anybody or anything she comes across. The Duke does not view his Duchess favourably in these lines. In fact, it shows the resentment of the Duke towards the Duchess behaviour. According to him she failed to discern between important and trivial people and places. He believed that the Duchess should show her devotion and attention only towards him and should always place him above everything else.
Or blush … … … to blame-Why is the speaker displeased with the woman being refered to? What do these lines tell us about the character of the Duke?
Ans. The Duke is upset with the woman i.e. the Duchess. Since the way she thanked people seemed to imply that she thought the small favours they did for her were just as important as what the Duke did for her. The Duke states that, while thanking others for doing things for her is fine the manner in which she did so appears to be needless and a ploy arouse his sentiments for her. He tries to justify his statement by claiming that he has given her his “nine hundred-year-old a tric to a long-standing aristocratic family with power and reputation and that she should be grateful exclusively to him.
These lines portray the Duke as a self-centered and egoistic person. He is full of attitude. He is an arrogant person who feels that only social elevation is important rather than the simple pleasures of life.
Bring out the imagery in the poem “My Last Duchess.”
Ans. The Duch and his control in the poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, Browning uses a particular imagery to create an image in the mind of the readers to create a more imaginative and mysterious read. His style makes this poem easy to read and understand, but he also doesn’t come straight out with things so that you have room to think and create your own scene.
Throughout the poem, Browning uses diction to support the imagery. For example, when Browning writes, “I gave commands then all smiles stopped together,” and this piece shows imagery by telling the audience how the duke felt, and the consequence of an action “all smiles stopped together,” but it doesn’t tell Pandolf what his actions were to make all of smile stop. “… statement superficially correct but whose negative phrasing forcess an misconception.” (miller 1) writes to show how Browning can be misleading or tricky but making his words hand to think through leading you to different ideas.
Bring out the symbol in the poem “My Last Duchess”.
Ans. The poem is full of symbols. The speaker in this poem is describing a portrait of his former wife to an unidentfied listener. The portrait itself is a symbol of the dead Duchess herself. Still watching over her former husband (and killer). The “earnest glance” of the image in the portrait symbolizes the counting presence of the woman, even in death. Also in the portrait is seen blush on her cheek, a sign of pleasure that the Duke sees as a sign of guilt. The picture of Neptune taming a sea-horse is reflective of how the Duke maintains control even if it comes to murder. Here the curtain symbolises the Duke’s attempt to hid 16 his faults. The Duke’s pretentiousness is symbolized by the artist Fra Pandolf.
Comment on Browning’s art of characterisation in “My Last Duchess.”
Ans. The excellence of Browning’s art of characterisation lies in the fact that though in his dramatic monologue he mostly deals with those who are in some way reprehensible, yet, we hardly condemn them morally. In the present poem-the Duke is undoubtedly a wicked character but we do not condemn him morally. As Robert Longburn says: “What interests us more than the duke’s wickedness is his immense attractiveness”. “My Last Duchess reveals Browning’s art of psychological characterisation. He catches the Duke of Ferrara at a critical moment of his life the moment he is having an interview with the ambassador of a foreign count whose daughter he eagerly seeks in marriage. This reveals his mind-his all consuming jealousy which makes him ask the painter Fra Pandolf to paint his Duchess’s wife withing the span of a single day. He regards his wife as a property out of his excessive egoism. His inordinate pride shrinks him from telling his wife-her behaviour paints where she crossed the limit of decency and decorum. He also represents his reprehensible greed.
“This grew … stopped together.”-Where are the lines taken from? Explain the line?
Ans. The lines are taken from “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
In these lines the Duke of Ferrara hints to the envoy of a foriegn count why he got his last Duchess killed. the last Duchess was a light-hearted woman. She knew no distinction of things or persons. The amorous glance of the Duke at her lovely breasts, the beautiful sight of the setting sun, the trifiling present from some gallan-all were equally appreciated by her. There was no doubt that she smiled lusciously whenever the Duke passed by her. But her smile was not reserved for him alone, as it ought to have been it was bestowed upon anybody who looked at her. Her habit of smiling at all irrespective of rank and social status, went on increasing as time wore on. This was too much for the Duke to bear. He considered it below his dignity to warn her against her smiling indiscriminately, so he ordered her to be put to death. As a result all her smiles vanished for ever.
What is dramatic irony? How has Browning used the dramatic irony in his poem, “My Last Duchess?”
Ans. Dramatic Irony is a literary device by which the audience’s or reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its character. In “My Last Duchess” dramatic irony occurs when the Duke believes he is justifying himself in having his previous Duchess killed. A major dramatic irony in “My Last Duchess” is that the Duke does not appear to realize how much of himself he is revealing to the orator. We as readers, are aware of the situation, but it is unclean whether the orator and/or the Duke realizes that he is confessing this to the emissary of his potential next wife.
“A heart how shall I say … Sir, twas all one?”_ Where is the line taken from? Explain the line?
Ans. These lines are taken from “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
The Duke explains to the convoy that his wife had no sense of discrimination. She was of childish temperament. She always felt impressed and pleased by the trivial things. She also felt interested in whatever she looked at. In other words, the Duchess had no sense of taste and prosperity. In this passage, Browning, by a fine stroke of psychological analysis portrays the character of the Duke. The way he censures his last Duchess for no other fault than her greatfulness to those who offered her compliments clearly betray his jealous nature.
“This grew; I gave commands! Then all smile stopped together.” Where is the line taken from? What made the speaker to give such commands?
Ans. These lines are taken from “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
Here the Duke in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, says that his last Duchess was in the habit of smiling and showing appreciation to all. The Duke did not like it. Therefore, he gave certain commands as a result of which all smiles of her stopped for ever. Actually the Duke was himself spiritually dead who could not understand the child like nobility of the Duchess. The Duchess, habit of smiling and showing appreciation to all and sundry incurred the displeasure and disgust of the Duke. He could not stoop to tutor her, discipline her. Therefore, he gave her certain commands. And as a result, all smiles of her stopped for ever.
“Sir, ’twas not her husband’s … the Duchess’ cheek”-Where is the line taken from? Explain the Seline briefly?
Ans. These lines are taken from “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
Pointing towards the high light spot on the portrait of the last Duchess, the hypocritical Renaissance patron of art says that it was not he alone which called that spot into being the Duchess used to smile at the least provocation. The Duchess did it as habit and not as a purpose. Now, standing before her portrait, where she stands, by the side of a listener made to sit, Ferrara obsessively reviews the reasons why that joy was “a spot” a contaminant should not have been on his last Duchess cheek.
“Notice Neptune … bronze for me”-Where is the line taken from? Explain the line.
Ans. These lines are taken from My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.
The last two lines are very much significant in the context of the Duke’s proposed second marriage. The picture painted here shows that Neptune, the sea-God is controlling his horse strictly. It is a rare picture that is pictured by Claus of Innsbruck made for the Duke case in bronze. But the inner implication is that the Duke is going to tame his second wife without any mercy at all. This is the repare which he conveys to the envoy with whom he is speaking. The speech bears the stamp of the Duke’s egoism. Through it he wants “to convey to the envoy and through him to the lady, that he demanded in his new wife the concentration of her whole being on himself, and the kutmost devotion to his will.”
“-E’en then would be same stooping, and I chuse… Never to stoop.” – Where is the line taken from? How does the Duke stoop? What characteristics of Duke is revealed here by this line?
Ans. These lines are taken from “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning.
Next Ferrara invites his listener to rise from being seated and “meet/The company below” but ironically when negotiating with the listener’s master, the count for a dowry, Ferrara stoops.” He not only lowers himself to the level of a mere count but generously offers to go/together down” with the listener servant, side by side.
The Duke did not like the free and frank desposition of his wife. Such stooping was never thought of by him. The lines point out the supreme egotism of the Duke and show the callousness of the Duke to read his wife’s mind.
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