|
READ THIS
Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue, spoken by the Duke of Ferrara
who explains to a suitor's ambassador why he had ordered his previous wife to be executed.
The Duke reveals himself to be an irrationally jealous man who could not bear to have his wife even
smiling at any other man. Eventually his jealousies got the better of him and he gave orders, and his wife
was executed. But, with her death, came the death of happiness all about him.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE
Robert Browning was born in 1812 in Camberwell near London. His family had made a fortune
in plantations in the West Indies, which meant that the young Robert grew up surrounded by
books and had already written his own poetry anthology by the age of 12, although it went
unpublished.
He was home-tutored and was fluent in several European languages. As a teenager, he was
surrounded by the work of the Romantic poets but would not be able to go to university because
his parents objected to the Church of England which held sway at both Oxford and Cambridge.
He despised the idea of a "formal career". Indeed, he was probably wealthy enough to survive
without one and, in any case, he stayed at home till his early 30s. Instead he dedicated his life
to the reading and writing of poetry, relying on his father to sponsor him, at least till he married
and left home.
Only at the age of 33 did he meet someone with whom to spend the rest of his life. This was
Elizabeth Barrett, a poet although a semi-invalid who was six years older than he. When they
eventually married, her father disinherited her because he objected to any of his daughters
marrying. Nevertheless, the union of the two was good for both their literary careers.
The couple chose to leave England and settled in Italy, at first at Pisa and then Florence. It was
there that Browning became a student of Italian art and literature, something which would reflect
in his poem "My last duchess". They had a son whom they nicknamed "Penini".
Browning was a prodigious writer of poetry but would come under severe criticism for
apparently abandoning England in favour of Italy. He would die in Venice in December 1889.
He was then 77 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
I choose never to stoop.
- What does this convey about the nobleman's character? (2)
[Need help?]
The Duke has a great deal of pride. He will never allow himself to be humbled even in the slightest way.
|
This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.
- Why did the Duke give "commands"? (2)
[Need help?]
The Duke plainly grew tired of competing with everyone for his wife's gratitude. He resented sharing her
affections with anyone, even if this was merely a smile.
|
- What commands did he give? (2)
[Need help?]
Did he have her killed? Most people say so but the poem doesn't actually tell us. There are four things
that a powerful Renaissance prince might have done. He might have poisoned her. Or perhaps he
ordered her execution.
But perhaps this was too violent. Perhaps he merely had the marriage annulled and packed his now ex-
wife off to a convent. Or maybe he merely divorced her. Which of these do you think is the most likely?
|
- How do we know that the nobleman is very powerful? (2)
[Need help?]
He was able to have his wife put aside and get away with it. Most normal men would have found
themselves at loggerheads with the Pope or with some other powerful person.
|
Will't please you rise? We'll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go
Together down, sir.
- What does "company" refer to here? (1)
[Need help?]
The Duke clearly has guests who are visiting him.
|
- Supply a synonym for "munificence". (1)
[Need help?]
"Munificence" means wealth or generosity.
|
I repeat,
The Count your master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed.
- Explain the meaning of these lines in your own words. (3)
[Need help?]
The Count's well-known generosity (or wealth) is a guarantee that the dowry I ask for will be paid. There
will be no arguing about it.
|
[Need help?]
Money | property paid to the groom by the bride's parents.
|
- What does the Duke say his "object" is? (1)
[Need help?]
He wishes to marry the Count's daughter, does he not?
|
Nay, we'll go together down, sir.
- Supply a synonym for "nay". Why would it have been necessary for the Duke to say
"Nay"? (3)
[Need help?]
"Nay" means "no". The envoy wanted to look at the painting a little longer but the Duke
wanted them to leave at that point.
|
Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!
- What does the Duke point out to the envoy on the way down? (2)
[Need help?]
The Duke has a bronze statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse on the stair-case. He wants the messenger
to take a look at it.
|
- Why does he specifically mention "Claus of Innsbruck"? What does this tell us about the
Duke's character? (4)
[Need help?]
The Duke is boasting. Claus of Innsbruck was presumably also a well-known artist and the Duke wishes
the envoy to know that he employs only the best artists.
|
- What warning do these words have for his future bride? (2)
[Need help?]
The Duke is hinting that he will tame his next bride in the same way that Neptune tames the seahorse.
|
- What is the point of the envoy's visit to the nobleman? (2)
[Need help?]
The envoy has come to negotiate a marriage of the Count's daughter to the Duke, as well as organise the
dowry.
|
|
