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Learning Module III

Survey of English and

American Literature
Course Packet 01

Victorian Era

My Last Duchess

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Course Packet 01

My Last Duchess
Course Packet 01

Introduction

My Last Duchess has been admired for its theme as well as style. Browning's purpose in
creating the Duke is to make a statement about the comparative values of sophistication and
naturalness. The whole poem is but the visible part of the iceberg, but the submerged
invisible part is not a matter of vague suggestiveness; it is both psychologically and
historically defined.

Objectives

1. Recognize through the poem the element of tone.

2. Explain the significance of Browning's My Last Duchess.

Learning Management System

The synchronous class sessions shall be conducted via Google Meet or any free online
platform as agreed upon by the professor and the students, while the asynchronous sessions
shall be administered via Google Classroom or any free learning management system (LMS)
collaboratively identified and decided as well by the professor and the students.

Duration:
Learning Packet X which is about the poem “My Last duchess” may be completed in 3 hours.

Delivery Mode
Two (2) hours is allotted for the synchronous online class and the remaining one (1) hour will
be spent on independent learning tasks.

Assessment with Rubrics:

Two types of assessment may be given: an objective test that provides limited set of options
for the student’s response or a projective test that requires the student to generate free
responses.

For objective tests, one item is equivalent to one point unless indicated in the activity. For
course requirements, the rubrics below will be the basis of the student’s score:

Rubric for Analyzing a Poem

Poetry Analysis
Poor - 3 Fair - 5 Good - 7 Excellent - 10
Interpretation

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37 % Interpretation of Interpretation of Interpretation of Interpretation of poem shows
poem is poem has some poem shows excellent insight and a large
superficial and depth and much insight and amount time working with the
of poem's or faulty and insight and a good amount poem.
action, main shows only shows some of time spent
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character, minimal insight amount of time with the poem.

theme(s) and only a short spent with the
amount of time poem.
spent with the
poem.
Understanding Weak Some Strong Excellent understanding
37 % understanding understanding understanding of uses of figurative
of uses of of uses of of uses of language, poetic terms and
figurative figurative figurative literary elements in the poem.
of figurative use language, poetic language, poetic language, poetic
of language, terms and terms and terms and
poetic terms, literary elements literary elements literary elements
symbolism in the poem. in the poem. in the poem.
Explanation Group Group Group Group explanation is very
26 % explanation is explanation is explanation is strong, very clearly explained
weak, confused, somewhat weak, strong, clearly and all required elements are
unclear and somewhat explained and all very clearly presented to
of poem to class required confused, and required class.
elements are sometimes elements are
missing. unclear and there.
some required
elements are
missing.
https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=T349CW&sp=yes&

Requirement with Rubrics

A learning packet may contain additional requirements that usually require the student to
generate free responses. The rubrics above shall be used in grading the student’s output
unless a different set is provided.

Readings
While working on a learning packet, additional reading/reference materials may be provided
by the professor when necessary.

Introduction
Robert Browning’s inspiration for My Last Duchess came from the Duke and Duchess
Ferarra. The Duchess died under very suspicious circumstances. She was married at
fourteen and dead by seventeen. Browning uses these suspicious circumstances as
inspiration for a poem that dives deep into the mind of a powerful Duke who wishes to control
his wife in every aspect of her life, including her feelings. Browning, of the Victorian age,
wrote real-life poetry that reflected upon some of the darkest aspects of Victorian life. One of
those aspects, of course, is the treatment of wives by their husbands. Everyone is familiar
with Henry the VIII and his many wives whom he accused and executed when he tired of
him. Robert Browning reveals that this mentality was widespread during this time. Wives were

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viewed as disposable, and their husbands would often accuse them to do away with them
when they desired to marry someone else. The life of a Victorian wife was a perilous one.
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Lesson Proper
Key Points:
Key Points:
 Review:

What did we discuss in the previous lesson? What is it all about?  Myth
Browning's
narrates poems
sacredare
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history; it
studies of therelates an
 Activity. event that took
character. Theyplace
are in
primordial time, the
studiestime
fabled of the other
of the
men.
beginningsThe poet stands
 Inapart
otherand
words,
givesmyth
his
tells how, through
characters a platform the
deeds of supernatural
and lets them speak to
beings, a reality came
us, and
into as they speak
existence.
 Creation
they unfold myth their
is a
“symbolic”
character. It was forof
narrative
the
this beginning
purpose that of the
world as understood in
aBrowning
particularinvented
traditiona
new community.
and genre of poetry
known as dramatic
monologue or dramatic
Definition of Terms:
lyric. It has a few well-
defined
Myth characteristics.
is a tale that has
 Processing of the Activity. been passed down
It is a compromise
through
between generations
the drama, andthe
1. What can you say about the picture? What do you think is his tells about nature and
role in our discussion for today? soliloquy
human and the lyric.
behavior.

 Brief Lesson. A brief discussion of the lesson. Myth, it is true,

The author keepsusually
deals
himself entirelyorin divine
with gods the
I. My Last Duchess beings (daemons, angels,
background and so
and others), but a story it is
By Robert Browning
essentially
about gods indramatic.
itself is by
no means necessarily a
A. Summary of My Last Duchess myth.
As only one character
1. Popularity of “My Last Duchess”: Robert Browning, speaks it is a
a famous English poet, and playwright, wrote ‘My Last monologue.
Hazard Alerts: The
Duchess’, a famous dramatic monologue of a duke about a monologue is
This may be ina alyrical
essentially form of
heinous act of killing his former wife. It was first published in
notice, caution, or
Browning’s Dramatic Lyrics in 1842. The poem comprises the outpouring or a
warning.
sentiment of the speaker whose mistress could not survive his subjective self-
severity. It also provides an insight into the psychological state Include appropriate
examination.
hazard alert where and
of the speaker. However, its popularity lies in the presentation when needed.
of a realistic picture of the Victorian era.
This should appear
2. “My Last Duchess” As a Representative of Jealousy: The before the conduct of an
activity.
poem presents a monologue of a duke who is telling about the
demise of his last duchess. At the outset, he displays the painting of
his late wife and talks about her character traits. First, he acknowledges the mastery of the
painter for painting a lifelike picture of his mistress. Then, accuses his mistress of having a

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heart that was “too soon made glad” and “too easily impressed.” He did not like her soft,
impartial and polite manners. Therefore, he blames her for being so gentle and kind.
Although her death is suspicious, the duke gets away with her murder on account of his
status and power. Thus, the poem exhibits the vicious, psychotic and controlling mind of the
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duke, who hated his wife due to her positive nature.

3. Major Themes in “My Last Duchess”: Jealousy, hatred, and power are the major themes
of this poem. Browning has presented the character of a duke who wants to rule his woman
with an iron fist. He talks about his late wife and details the reasons why he did not like her.
He could not tolerate the idea that his wife was easily attracted toward the strangers and
responded them happily. It is due to this behavior his wife is not alive. That is why he seems
to be a psychopath, jealous and self-centered man who not only wishes to control his
kingdom but also wants to govern the lives of his near and dear ones.

B. Symbols, Imagery and Wordplay:

1. Frà Pandolf’s Painting of the Duchess:

The most obvious symbol in "My Last Duchess" is the one that the Duke spends most of his
time talking about – the portrait of the Duchess painted by Frà Pandolf on the wall of his
private gallery. Intriguingly, the Duke doesn’t say much about the painting itself, except that
it’s lifelike and that it seems to capture the Duchess’s emotional state. We don’t get any
sense of what pose the Duchess is in, what she’s wearing, or what the color scheme or
brushstrokes. What we do learn about the painting is that it’s painted directly on the gallery
wall, and so the Duke has to keep it covered by a curtain so that he can control who views it.

 Lines 1-2: The Duke points toward the portrait of the duchess using the language of
this first sentence – "that" and "painted on the wall" start setting the scene for the
reader.
 Lines 3-4: When the Duke describes the hard work that went into the painting of the
Duchess, he uses a synecdoche, making Frà Pandolf’s hands, not Frà Pandolf
himself, the subject of the sentence. By reducing the painter to the part of his body
that does the work, he dehumanizes Frà Pandolf, turning him into a tool instead of a
person.
 Line 8: It’s a tough call on this one, but you could think of the painting of the Duchess
as personified. After all, paintings themselves are just paint on a surface, but this
painting is looking at the viewer – it has an "earnest glance" – and it almost seems
like it has feelings – "depth and passion." However, because the painting is an image
of a person, you could also interpret the Duke’s comments as being about the subject
of the painting, instead of the painting itself – in which case this wouldn’t be
personification.
 Lines 17-19: Imagining the way the painter might have complimented the Duchess,
the Duke uses elaborate imagery.

2. That Spot of Joy:

When the Duchess is happy about something – and we really mean anything, her marriage,
her dinner, the weather, anything at all – she smiles and blushes, and the Duke describes her

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blush s a "spot of joy" (21) that appears in her cheek. The spot of joy is an involuntary signal
of the Duchess's pleasure, something that she can’t control, that betrays her inner feelings to
the world. The Duke thinks of it as a "spot" – a stain, a symbol of her tainted nature.
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 Lines 13-15: The Duke uses a tongue-in-cheek understatement to emphasize how

many things cause the "spot of joy" to appear in the Duchess's cheek.
 The phrase "spot of joy" itself is a startling juxtaposition of images that makes the
reader think differently about the kind of blush that crosses the face of the Duchess.
The fact that her blushing is referred to as a "spot" makes it sound blameworthy.
 Lines 21-22: In order to convey that he perceives the Duchess as flirtatious, the Duke
comes up with a euphemism – "too soon made glad," which is a roundabout way of
saying "easily pleased" – or maybe just "easy."
 Of course, that may not be an accurate characterization of the Duchess – but that’s
how the Duke perceives her. Since the Duchess isn’t here to defend herself, all we
have to go on is the Duke’s claim.

3. Smiles:

Along with blushes, the Duchess bestows pleased smiles on anyone and anything that brings
a little bit of joy into her life. The Duke thinks of these smiles almost the way you might think
of collector’s items – they’re worth less (maybe even worthless) because she gives out so
many of them. In fact, it seems like the Duke thinks that the Duchess should only smile for
him. Taking pleasure in your life, let alone in its subtle details, just doesn’t fit with his prestige-
and-power philosophy.

 Lines 23-24: The Duke continues to use indirect language and figures of speech to
imply that the Duchess is too flirtatious without saying so directly.
 In these lines, he uses innuendo together with metonymy – "her looks went
everywhere" – to suggest that she herself "goes everywhere" too. (An innuendo is a
seemingly innocent statement that implies something bawdy, sexy, or racy. Basically,
anything you could follow with "nudge, nudge" or "that’s what she said" counts as an
innuendo.)
 Lines 31-34: The Duchess isn’t the only one reduced to an intangible thing
associated with her – the Duke describes his marriage to her using metonymy, calling
it the "gift" of his "nine-hundred-years-old name."
 Lines 43-45: The Duke asks a rhetorical question, implying that the Duchess bestows
the same smile on everyone around her.
 Line 46: The Duke uses synecdoche when he admits to his murder of the Duchess;
instead of saying that he killed her, he mentions that all of her smiles have stopped.

4. Stooping:

It’s important to notice that when the Duke describes something that he thinks of as
inappropriate or base for him to do, he does so by calling it "stooping." He considers himself
to be on a high social pedestal, with his "nine-hundred-years-old name" and his wealth. He
can’t "lower" himself, even to tell someone that he’s angry with them. Normal communication
and behavior are out of the question for him, because they fall into the category of "stooping."

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 Lines 34-35: The Duke uses a rhetorical question to force his listener to agree with
him that it would be "stooping" to talk to the Duchess directly about her inappropriate
behavior.
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 Line 36: A paradox: the Duke claims that he doesn’t have "skill in speech," even
though he’s speaking skillfully in order to say so!
 Lines 42-43: In these lines, as the Duke repeats his belief that communicating with
the Duchess would be "stooping," Browning uses assonance, or the repetition of
vowel sounds, to bring emphasis to the lines.

5. Neptune Taming a Seahorse:

The final art object that the Duke points out to the Count’s servant as they leave his gallery is
a bronze statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, taming a seahorse. The Duke
emphasizes that this statue was cast for him specifically and names the sculptor, Claus of
Innsbruck – which presumably means that this sculptor is well-known. As readers, we have to
consider this statue as a foil to the only other art object that we see in the gallery – the
portrait of the Duchess.

 Lines 54-56: Browning uses alliteration and consonance to unify and structure the
lines describing the statue of Neptune.

6. Sex Rating: PG:

Nobody has sex in "My Last Duchess." Instead we get to watch the Duke of Ferrara writhing
as he talks about his paranoid suspicion that his wife is having an affair. Even something as
harmless as a blush or a "spot of joy" in her cheek makes him gnash his teeth. His murderous
jealousy seems creepily sexual when we remember that he’s telling the story as part of the
wooing process for his next wife.

7. Shout Outs:

a. Mythological References
 Neptune (54)
b. Historical References
 Ferrara (epigraph)

C. Themes:

1. Power:

"My Last Duchess" is all about power: the political and social power wielded by the speaker
(the Duke) and his attempt to control the domestic sphere (his marriage) in the same way that
he rules his lands. He rules with an iron fist. The Duke views everything that he possesses
and everyone with whom he interacts as an opportunity to expand his power base. Wives
need to be dominated; servants need to understand his authority; and fancy objects in his art
gallery display his influence to the world – if he decides to show them. Kindness, joy, and
emotion are all threats to his tyrannical power.

Questions about Power:

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1. How does the Duke want the people around him, such as his "last Duchess" and the
servant of the Count who listens to her story, to respond to his power? How does he
attempt to shape their reactions?
2. What do the Duke’s brief asides to his listener show us about the way he manages
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his power? (Think especially of lines 5, 47-48, and 53-54.)

3. Why does the Duke think that it would be "stooping" to explain to the Duchess why
he dislikes her smiling and blushing? In his mind, how would talking to her about
these issues compromise his position of power?
4. What powers does the Duchess have? What aspects of her life – including her
husband’s behavior and her own – is she unable to control?

Chew on This:

The Duke of Ferrara sets himself up to have his power threatened, because he never
communicates directly with people about his expectations for their behavior.

2. Language and Communication

In "My Last Duchess," choices about what to communicate and what to withhold are the
means by which power is wielded. The Duke sees communicating openly and honestly with
someone about the problems you have with their behavior as impossible because it would
compromise his authority. It’s also possible to hint at his power by intentionally letting stories
of the past exploits slip to a new listener. However, because language is full of subtlety, the
Duke might accidentally communicate more than he meant to about his own psychosis.

Questions about Language and Communication:

1.The Duke claims that he doesn’t have "skill in speech" to make his "will clear" to the
Duchess. Is he right? Does he display any evidence of rhetorical skill in the poem
itself? If so, then why couldn’t he communicate with the Duchess?
2.Why does the Duke think that it would be "stooping" to communicate his thoughts
and feelings to the Duchess? Why doesn’t telling the story to his listener count as
"stooping," too? What makes retelling the story to a third party different?
3.What is the Duke really hoping to communicate by telling the story of his "last
Duchess" to the Count’s servant? Who is meant to receive the message?
4.What does the Duke communicate about himself unintentionally by retelling the story
of his murder of the Duchess? How do these unintended meanings slip through the
language of the poem?

Chew on This:

The Duke is only able to describe his maniacal feelings to someone who is not the object of
those feelings.

3. Art and Culture

"My Last Duchess" is a piece of art about a piece of (fictional) art – a poem about a pretend
painting. The speaker of the poem, the Duke of Ferrara, is a connoisseur and collector
of objets d’art, or art objects, which he displays privately in order to impress people. In this

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poem, art and culture become tools for demonstrating social status – and ways to reduce
unstable elements, like the Duchess herself, to things that can be physically controlled.

Questions about Art and Culture:

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1. Why does the Duke have a private art gallery? To whom do you think he usually
shows the objects in his collection?
2. Why is there a curtain over the portrait of the "last Duchess"? (Hint: can the portrait
be moved?)
3. Why is it so important that the portrait of the Duchess is full-length and extremely
lifelike? How does the replacement of the real Duchess with her portrait work? What
does the Duke gain by this replacement? What does he lose?
4. How does the bronze statue of Neptune taming a seahorse relate to the portrait of
the Duchess? Why does the Duke make a point of showing this second object to the
Count’s servant?

Chew on This:

Even though the Duke is a collector of art objects, he doesn’t really appreciate them; he only
cares about the way they increase his status and demonstrate his power.

4. Madness

In "My Last Duchess," a husband murders his wife because she blushes and smiles at other
people – even though theses blushes are out of her control and probably entirely innocent.
This is pretty much the textbook definition of an abusive, controlling husband. The Duke
doesn’t even want his wife to thank people for gifts, because it makes him jealous. But we
think this goes beyond abuse into the realm of madness: after all, trying to control someone is
abuse; thinking that because someone blushes she must be having an affair, and that the
only remedy is murder is just insane.

Questions about Madness:

1. Is the Duke actually crazy? Which aspects of his speech and behavior suggest that
he’s a psychopath? Which suggest that he’s sane but cruel?
2. Does the Duke seem capable of analyzing his own behavior? That is, does he hint
that he knows how extreme his actions are?
3. What does the Duke disclose to his listener without intending to do so? How do these
disclosures change our opinion of his sanity or insanity?

Chew on This:

The Duke’s obsession with totalitarian power, and his tendency to punish innocent or nearly
innocent behavior with the most extreme penalties, make it clear that he’s a psychopath.

5. Jealousy:

The Duke in "My Last Duchess" is pretty much the green-eyed monster incarnate. He’s
almost an allegorical figure for jealousy. He’s jealous of the attention his wife shows to other
people – even if all she does is thank them for bringing her some cherries. He’s jealous of

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every smile and every blush that she bestows, intentionally or unintentionally, on someone
else. He’s so jealous that he can’t even bring himself to talk to her about her behavior –
murder is the only solution he can come up with. His jealousy isn’t just about romantic
attention; it’s about any kind of attention.
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Questions about Jealousy:

1. What evidence can you find in the poem to suggest that the Duke suspects the
Duchess of having, or at least seeming to have, a lover? Is there any evidence that
she’s actually having an affair? Does that matter to the Duke?
2. Why is the Duke jealous of the smiles and thanks that the Duchess shows to other
people? Does he actually value her smiles and thanks? Does he want her to give all
her admiration to him, or to stifle her admiring behavior entirely?
3. When the Duke imagines different ways of telling the Duchess about his jealousy, he
comes up with "here you miss, / Or there exceed the mark" (38-39). What is "the
mark"? How does the Duke use "the mark" to judge the Duchess's behavior? Is the
mark at all related to the "spot of joy" (21)?

Chew on This:

The Duke is jealous of the way the Duchess treats other people, not because he loves her
and wants all her love for himself, but because he wants her to acknowledge his power over
her.

 Enhancement Activity.
The statue of Neptune ("a rarity") taming a seahorse may be regarded as a symbol of brutal
male domination of the beautiful and natural. How might we regard this statue as
representing the Duke?

 Generalization.
What is the focus of our discussion for today?
 Application.
The poem is of the type called a dramatic monologue because it consists entirely of the
words of a single speaker (persona) who reveals in his speech his own nature and the
dramatic situation in which he finds himself. The dramatic monologue reveals its own place
and time as it proceeds to uncover the psychology of the speaker at a significant moment in
his or her life. Browning's Duke has been labeled (despite his apparent cunning) as
"witless"--why?

Course Packet Discussion Forum

The speaker is the arrogant, art-collecting Duke of Ferrara. We might even call him the
protagonist, for, although we may not agree with him, we are virtually compelled to identify
with him since he speaks directly to us, with a mediating narrator. How does Browning force
us to place our sympathies with so objectionable a persona?

Additional Activity

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The time is the Italian Renaissance, as Browning establishes by references to art and the
dowry which the Duke is negotiating with the Count of Tyrol, as well as by the Duke's
"thousand-year-old name." Why is this "name" so important to this Renaissance Duke?
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Annexes
 Answer Key.

 References.

Analysis of My Last Duchess: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/my-last-

duchess/themes/language-and-communication, Retrieved January 31, 2021

Analysis of My Last Duchess: https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry

/my-last-duchess-analysis.html#.YBdOsuhKiM8, Retrieved January 31, 2021

Analysis of My Last Duchess: https://poemanalysis.com/robert-browning/my-last-duchess/,

Retrieved January 31, 2021

Analysis of the poem “My Last Duchess”: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-

Poem-My-Last- Duchess-by-Robert-Browning/, Retrieved January 31, 2021

Analysis of the poem “My Last Duchess”:

https://literarydevices.net/my-last-duchess//, Retrieved
January 31, 2021

 Feedback Form. This is an essential part of course packet. This must be submitted to
the faculty, copy furnished the Program Head and College Dean.

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