Select one of the following prompts, and write a short constructed response (here on the blog). I would advise writing your response in a Word document, saving it to Google Docs or on your flash drive, and then copying and pasting it into a blog post. This is the best way to ensure that you do not lose your work if the blog freezes up. Don't forget to give your post an original title!
1. The Duke reveals himself to be an emotionally cold, calculating, materialistic, haughty, aristocratic connoisseur; on the positive side, he is a patron of such artists as Fra Pandolf and Claus of Innsbruck (both fictional). What does the duke value in art? What does he see as his role in the creation of great art?
2. The speaker is the arrogant, art-collecting Duke of Ferrara. We might even call him the protagonist, for, although we may not agree with him, we are virtually compelled to identify with him since he speaks directly to us, with a mediating narrator. How does Browning force us to place our sympathies with so objectionable a persona?
3. The Duke eliminated (divorced? sent to a convent? had executed or poisoned?) his last duchess because (he felt) she undervalued him and treated him much as she treated other men. Which trivial incidents in particular seem to have produced this response in the Duke?
Question #2
ReplyDeleteSince the speaker is the main person who the poem is about we as readers want to identify with him. We try to relate our lives to his even though his life is completely unrelated to ours. He is a wealthy, self-centered man of royalty and we are simply students in a modern world. We feel inclined to show sympathy to the man who lost his wife because he is now alone. We are meant to feel pity for this man of great nobility and wealth because he lost want meant to him the most. ”There she stands, as if alive will you please rise? Well will meet the company below.” (My Last Duchess) He is left without his wife just looking at a painting of her wishing she were there. We as reader respond to loss. It is a concept that is somewhat relatable to all of us. The poem reminds us of a time when we felt sorrow of a lost one, provoking emotions. No matter the person we all feel pain and it doesn't matter the kind of person we see, we feel pain for even the vainest people.
#3 Prompt
ReplyDeleteQuestion: The Duke eliminated (divorced? sent to a convent? had executed or poisoned?) his last duchess because (he felt) she undervalued him and treated him as much as she treated other men. Which trivial incidents in particular seem to have produced this response in the Duke?
Answer: Trivial incidents that may have produced this response in the Duke in particular are that he says she was “Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er.” This is saying that she was impressed by whatever any man gave her or did for her, instead of just what her husband did for her. Also, the Duke says that “She thanked men…as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift.” This is saying that she appreciates all gifts, instead of always wanting the best from only her husband. From my perspective, the Duke is expecting her to be snotty and high-maintenance instead of grateful for everything, no matter what quality. From the Duke’s perspective, though, he thinks that she doesn’t see his effort in trying to give her only the best and, although she greatly appreciates his gifts, she also appreciates everyone else’s. To the Duke, since his gifts that he gives her are of higher quality, she should show more thanks to him than to other men. He takes this as a sign of un-appreciation and equality to everyone else. In his perfect world though, the way that he wants her to show complete appreciation to him is by not accepting or being thankful of other gifts and, instead, only accepting the ones from him that are of higher quality.
-AJ Frankson
I like your answer I also agree, The duke demands or expects her to act like nobility instead of being grateful and kind heated like she was.
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