MY LAST DUCHESS|Robert Browning |EKTA OPAI

A. 1.
Ans: The painting can be said to symbolize the wife, the last Duchess.
2.
Ans: The Duke and the envoy meet to arrange a marriage between the Duke and the daughter of a Count for which the Count had sent his envoy for.
3.
Ans: Controlling, jealous, arrogant, officious and mercenary are some adjectives that can be used to describe the Duke.

4.
Ans: The statue of Neptune taming a sea horse symbolizes the Duke’s persona- his obsession with control. His reference to the statue emphasizes his mastery over all of the things around him.

B. 1. a.
Ans: It means the Duchess is easily moved by anything. Every little thing makes her happy.

b.
Ans: No, the Duke was infuriated. The Duchess does not save her joy for him alone and this displeased the Duke.

2.a.
Ans: The speaker was displeased with the woman being referred to because she ranked his 900 years old family name with anybody’s gift equally.

b.
Ans: The lines show the jealous and arrogant nature of the Duke.

C. 1.
Ans: the character of the Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous and arrogant traits. The Duke’s action and words shows that he likes being the one in control. He was under the impression that many men were impressed by the Duchess. Men often gave her gifts and it made the Duke furious and jealousy take over him. The Duke found faults in the Duchess too hard to bear so he commanded all smiles to stop all together. It seems the Duke had arranged her death. The Duke’s arrogance was shown through his verbal comments and actions throughout the poem. He is revealed to be an emotionally cold, materialistic and calculating man.


2.
Ans: The Duke is unhappy with the last Duchess for a number of reasons. First of all his wife often blushed at others. Specifically, this ‘spot of joy’ on her face was caused by things other than her husband’s presence. The Duke feels that the Duchess ranked his gifts of a 900 years old name with anybody’s gifts. The Duchess’ lack of worshipfulness infuriated her husband, the Duke.

3.
Ans: In the poem ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning, the Duke is trying to convey to the listener that his deceased wife was disloyal to him. He blames her for not bestowing her love, affection and even her smiles and blushes exclusively on him. He implies that the Duchess’ expressions are signals of her infidelity. A further problem with the Duchess, according to the Duke, is that she thanked everyone for whatever they gave her and with the same degree of enthusiasm. The Duke was treated the exact same way as those he considered his social inferior.
4.
Ans: The theme of appearance versus reality is important in this poem. The text appears to capture a well-mannered negotiation between the Duke and the envoy of the Count, sent to arrange the marriage of the Count’s daughter to the Duke.
The Duke’s representation of his wife through the portrait in his description of her adulterous behavior to other man is the art. This stands as a contrast to the reality that all his artful description of the Duchess is only guided by his own jealousy and madness.
5.
Ans: ‘My Last Duchess’ is about the power that the Duke had and still has over his dead wife. The Duke keeps a painting of the Duchess behind a curtain which was put by him. In this way he has power over the Duchess in that he controls who sees her. Later in the poem, the Duke boasts of stopping her smiles all together. The implication here is that the Duke, jealous of the Duchess’ smiles, took her life. Thus he had then the power to end her life and he has now the power to control how or if she is remembered.
the reference to the statue of Neptune on a sea horse represents the imbalance of power (Neptune representing the Duke and the sea horse representing the Duchess). The fact that Neptune is taming a sea horse implies how the Duke use his power to tame the Duchess who he thought was too wild.

D. 1.
Ans: The Duke probably wants to show off his acquisitions, considering he especially is proud of them. But more importantly, he wants to send a covert message to the new Duchess. The message is that she had better behave in line and value his name and rank for its worthy status. He is looking for a docile, controllable woman who worships him.
2.
Ans: The poem “My last Duchess” by Robert Browning suggests much about the limited social roles women had during the renaissance period. Mainly, the poem shows how women were viewed as the property of their husbands and how they had to make sure their reputation was never under suspicions.
the Duchess is expected to be subordinate to her husband in all things. While reputation and marital faithfulness are emphasized in such a culture, the Duke exaggerates it, going to homicidal degrees to make sure his wife is obedient to him.
The objectification of women in this setting is inherent in the central symbol: the portrait itself. Even though the Duchess is dead, her likeness is still under her husband’s control.