My Last Duchess

1
My Last Duchess

• written by Robert Browning
• in 1845
• set in the sixteenth century
• Ferrara is the dukes name and the poem looks
  like a script
• Watch the video clip

2
Quick questions

• Who is speaking?
• Who is listening?
• Who is the duke talking about?
• What was his wife like? Give 2 examples
• What happened to her?
• What is he like? Give 2 pieces of evidence
• For the next slide, try to memorise at least 3 of
  Brownings ideas.

3
The poets ideas

• the position of women in a society dominated by
  men

• past wrongs continue into the present because
  the kind of people who were responsible are still
  with us

• an exploration of one of the seven deadly sins
  jealousy

• the way a person speaks about something can
  reveal more than what they actually say

• an exploration of what makes people the way they
  are

4
Methods

• line length or metre
• run on lines or enjambment
• breaks or caesura
• rhyme
• voice
• imagery
• references or allusions
• mild expression or euphemism
• Write quotations for each of these.

5
Kid by Simon Armitage

• Make a mind map covering meaning, poets ideas
  and poets methods. Heres a start

all the lines end with the sound er
Kid brother?
The pace gets quicker
6
Task

• Compare this poem by Robert Browning to Kid by
  Simon Armitage.
• Write about
• angry, destructive feelings towards someone close
• run on lines and breaks
• rhyme
• references or allusions
• mild expression or euphemism