—E’enthenwouldbesomestooping; andIchoose
, shesmiled, nodoubt,
Whene’erIpassedher; butwhopassedwithout
Muchthesamesmile? Thisgrew; Igavecommands;
’tpleaseyourise? We’llmeet
Thecompanybelow, ,
TheCountyourmaster’sknownmunificence
Isamplewarrantthatnojustpretence
Ofminefordowrywillbedisallowed;
Thoughhisfairdaughter’sself, asIavowed
Atstarting, , we’llgo
Togetherdown, , though,
Tamingasea-horse, thoughtararity,
WhichClausofInnsbruckcastinbronzeforme!
.
?
1)Whathistoricaleventisthispoembasedon?
2)Whoisthespeaker/theaudienceinthepoem?
3)HowdoesBrowninghavetheDukehimselfsubtlyrevealthislocationandthegeneralcircumstancesunderwhichheaddressestheenvoy?
4)Whatdoeshevalueinart? Whatdoesheseeashisroleinthecreationofgreatart?
5)TheDukehasbeendescribedasboth “disdainful”and “proud”.Othertermsthatmightbeappliedtohischaracterare “hubristic”and “megalomaniacal”.Explainwithreferencetothepoemhoweachoftheseadjectivesisappropriate.
6)Despitehisdepravity, whatispatheticabouttheDuke?
7)WhatisdramaticmonologueandhowdoesRobertBrowninguseitsuccessfullyinhispoemMyLastDuchess?
8)ThestatueofNeptune (“ararity”) ?
9)WhydoestheDukefindtheportraitofhislatewifepreferabletothelivingoriginal?
10)Whyistheformofthepoem (iambicpentametercouplets) bothappropriatetothecharacterizationofthespeakerandeffectiveinpresentinghimasaRenaissance “type”?
: Characterportraits.
1) Readthroughthepoemingroupsofthree.
Eachoneofthegroupshouldtaketheperspectiveofonepersonwithinthepoem:
·TheDuchess
·TheCount’senvoy
·BrotherPandolf
