Robert BrowningRobert Browning

Robert BrowningRobert Browning

My Last Duchess

Biographical InformationBiographical Information

• Mostly educated at home by tutors.• Brilliant, undisciplined, determined to

be like Percy Bysshe Shelley.• Lived at home, supported by parents

until he married at age 34.• 1845 – wrote to Elizabeth Barrett• 1846 – secretly married

Biographical InformationBiographical Information

• Poetry emphasized error, weakness, and viciousness of characters.

• 1861 – wife died; moves back to England with son.

• Known as “the other great Victorian poet”

My Last DuchessMy Last Duchess

Background InformationBackground Information

• Dramatic monologue – speaker who is not the poet addresses the listener who does not speak.

• In this poem, the speaker is negotiating another marriage.

• Speaking to a representative of future wife’s father.

Background InformationBackground Information

• Duke of Ferrara –• Alfonso II (fifth

Duke) Renaissance Nobleman

• 1st wife was 14 – left her for 2 years

• Came back and she died a year later

• It is believed that she was poisoned.

• According to the book, My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is based on

• The narrator of My Last Duchess keeps his wife

• List at least 6 words that best describe the personality of the narrator of My Last Duchess.

• Browning is known for his rich detailing in his poetry. What are some details about the narrator’s life do we learn about from the poem?_

• What did the narrator of the poem accuse the last Duchess of doing? What does he do in response?

• What are at least 3 symbols in My Last Duchess? How are these significant to the poem’s overall theme(s)?