Analysing the poem 'My Last Duchess'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore how Browning uses language and structure to present power in ‘My Last Duchess’.
Key learning points
- Browning uses art to symbolise the Duke’s craving for power and control.
- By using the form of a dramatic monologue and rhyming couplets, Browning reflects the Duke’s desire for total control.
- Enjambment reveals a single person’s capacity to be carried away by passions and anger, subtly revealing instability.
- Ironically, through his craving for control and power, the Duke reveals himself to be powerless.
- Browning exposing the Duke as powerless and insecure may reflect his critique of patriarchal Victorian society.
Keywords
Objectify - to treat a person like a tool or a toy and deny them their emotions
Despot - a person who has absolute power and exerts it in a cruel or oppressive way
Expose - to show what has been covered or hidden
Irony - when something that was intended to have a particular result actually has the opposite result
Common misconception
The Duke's presentation of himself is of absolute power.
If you look deeper into Browning's presentation of the Duke, he is revealed to lack power.
Teacher tip
When looking at interpretations of the Duke in learning cycle 2, you could include a hot seating activity where each pupil in a group of 3 provides the perspective of a different party (narrator, reader, and writer).
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What complaints did the Duke have about the Duchess in 'My Last Duchess'?
Q2.The Duke in 'My Last Duchess' is shocked at how the Duchess did not feel indebted to him based on his “gift” of…
Q3.In the line “she liked whatever she looked on and her looks went everywhere”, from 'My Last Duchess' the Duke seems…
Q4.How does the Duke in 'My Last Duchess' seek to present himself as a powerful man?
Q5.How many narrative perspectives are there in 'My Last Duchess' and why is this significant?
Q6.Why might Browning, a Victorian poet, have set his poem 'My Last Duchess' in the Italian Renaissance?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is similar about the first four and last four lines of 'My Last Duchess'?
Q2.Why is it significant that the Duke has a painting made of his late wife in 'My Last Duchess'?
Q3.Look at the following quotation from 'My Last Duchess': "(since none puts by/the curtain that I have drawn for you, but I)." What does this show?
Q4.Arguably, what does the use of enjambment in the poem 'My Last Duchess' emphasise?
Q5.The use of rhyming couplets throughout 'My Last Duchess' may reflect…
Q6.In 'My Last Duchess' one could argue that the Duke fails to control the Duchess even in her death as...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing the poem 'My Last Duchess', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing the poem 'My Last Duchess', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the 'Power and Conflict' unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.