Lesson Four - My Last Duchess

Introduction

Lesson Three - "My Last Duchess"
Duration - 3 blocks (3 x 80 min + homework)

"The great passion in a man’s life may not be for women or men or wealth or toys or fame, or even for his children, but for his masculinity, and at any point in his life he may be tempted to throw over the things for which he regularly lays down his life for the sake of that masculinity." - Frank Pittman (20th century), U.S. psychiatrist and family therapist

My Last Duchess "is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara, who lived in the 16th century.

"The Duke is the speaker of the poem and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke's marriage (he has recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful family. As he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl.

"The Duke begins reminiscing about the portrait sessions, then about the Duchess herself. His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behavior: he claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his 'gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name.'

"As his monologue continues, the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke, in fact, caused the Duchess's early demise: when her behavior escalated, '[he] gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.'

"Having made this disclosure, the Duke returns to the business at hand: arranging for another marriage, with another young girl. As the Duke and the emissary walk leave the painting behind, the Duke points out other notable artworks in his collection." (sparknotes.com)