Robert Browning

My Last Duchess

Biographical 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 – wrote to Elizabeth Barrett 1846 – secretly married

Biographical Information Poetry emphasized error, weakness, and viciousness of characters – wife died; moves back to England with son. Known as “the other great Victorian poet”

My Last Duchess

Background 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 Information Duke of Ferrara – Alfonso II (fifth Duke) Renaissance Nobleman 1 st 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)?