Choose a poem which creates a mood of hope or despair or mystery.

With reference to appropriate techniques, explain how the mood is cre-

ated and discuss how it enhances your appreciation of the poem as a
whole.

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a poem which successfully

creates a mysterious atmosphere. This mysterious mood is demon-
strated throughout using techniques such as word choice, imagery, repe-
tition, enjambment and synecdoche. The poem is a dramatic monologue
in which the Duke is speaking to an emissary who has come to negotiate
his marriage to the daughter of a powerful family. While showing his visi-
tor a portrait of his late wife, the Duke begins reminiscing about their life
together, but as he describes the Duchess he ends up revealing more
about himself than her. Through his criticism of her, he exposes himself
as a jealous, controlling and arrogant man and as his monologue contin-
ues, the reader realises with chilling certainty that the Duke is responsi-
ble for the Duchess’s death.

Through careful word choice, Browning effectively creates a mysterious

mood right at the start of the poem when the Duke introduces the envoy
to the painting of his late wife, “that’s my last Duchess painted on the
wall, looking as if she were alive”. The use of the word “my” shows the
objectification of the “last Duchess” by the Duke demonstrating his pos-
sessive nature as he claimed ownership over her. Browning’s use of the
past tense of the verb "were" and the simile construction of "as if" both
immediately establish the death of the Duchess although the Duke does
not elaborate on the cause and doesn’t seem very upset by her passing.
Browning generates a feeling of unease about the Duke as his disturbing
character is revealed through his cold and unfeeling attitude adding to
the mysterious tone of the poem.

Browning uses enjambment throughout the poem with lines that flow
into one another. This is effective as although the Duke is making horri-
fying revelations this style of writing makes his tone seem casual adding
to the threatening atmosphere of the poem. An example of this is when
the Duke mentions that only he is allowed to draw the curtain to view
the painting or to show it to anyone. “But to myself they turned (since
none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)” Browning’s use of
imagery implies that only the Duke has power over the portrait. This
demonstrates the Duke’s controlling personality as now that the
Duchess is a piece of art, trapped behind a curtain on the wall, she will
only ever smile for him. This creates a sinister tone as the Duke’s pos-
session over the Duchess, even in death, reveals just how deranged the
Duke really is. the Duke’s need for complete control.

We see the Duke’s arrogance revealed further when the Duke boasts
about his name “My gift of a nine-hundred year old name / With anybody’s
gift” Browning’s word choice and repetition of ’gift’ emphasises the
Duke’s long-line of family history and makes it sound as though the Duke
was being generous when he agreed to marry his wife. He is clearly irri-
tated that she did not seem to recognise what a wonderful gift he had
given her. He then reasserts his superiority by stating that "I choose/
Never to stoop" The Duke’s word choice demonstrates that he views
himself as too important to be bothered with small annoyances. The
Duke's arrogance is apparent as he indicates that even telling the
Duchess where she had been wrong was beneath him. Although the
Duke’s intention is to portray the Duchess as an unfaithful wife, what the
reader becomes aware of is the egotistical and jealous mind of the Duke
himself adding to the threatening tone of the poem.

Browning continues to create a mysterious atmosphere as the Duke tries

to get the emissary onside by implying that the Duchess was too free
with her affections “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, / Whene’er I passed her;
but who passed without / Much the same smile?” Through the Duke’s
word choice he portrays the Duchess as a kind and attentive wife to him,
but that means less, in his mind, because she’s kind and attentive to ev-
eryone. He wanted her affection to be for him alone This reveals the
Duke’s controlling, jealous nature. He then openly admits to ordering his
wife’s death “I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together”.
Browning uses synecdoche when the Duke admits to murdering the
Duchess, instead of saying that he killed her, he says that all of her
smiles have stopped. The Duke shows here, that he is a powerful man
who will give the command to get rid of whatever disturbs him, in this
case the Duchess. The unemotional manner in which the Duke unlocks
the mystery of the last Duchess’s demise creates a chilling tone as the
reader is left shocked by the Duke’s cruelty.

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a poem which successfully

creates a mysterious atmosphere. Browning uses techniques such as
word choice, imagery, repetition, enjambment and synecdoche to gradu-
ally unmask the Duke’s real character. The irony of the poem lies in the
fact that the Duke himself unwittingly reveals all the truths about his
loathsome character while trying to prove himself a great man. From the
Duke’s commentary of his wife’s death the reader is easily led to believe
that he committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. However, Browning
never confirms this which only adds to the mystery of the poem and
leaves the reader fearing for safety of the Duke’s next wife.