Robert Browning

1. Robert Browning

2. Robert Browning My Last Duchess

3. 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 34. • 1845 – wrote to Elizabeth Barrett • 1846 – secretly married

4. Biographical Information • Poetry emphasized error, weakness, and viciousness of characters. • 1861 – wife died; moves back to England with son. • Known as “the other great Victorian poet”

5. My Last Duchess

6. 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.

7. Background Information • Duke of Ferrara – • Alfonso II (fifth Duke) Renaissance Nobleman • 1st wife was 14 – left her for 2 years • Came back and she died a year later • It is believed that she was poisoned.

9. According to the book, My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is based on • The narrator of My Last Duchess keeps his wife

10. 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?_

11. 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)?