| Please read the questions in our textbook; they will help you think more about the poem.
1. What you need to find out first, as the questions suggest, is the "who, where, when, and why" of the poem--that is, who is speaking to whom and at what time and for what purpose. Try to find out the role the listener plays in this poem.
2. What is the last duchess like? (See ll. 21-34)
3. What is the duke's attitude to his duchess? (e.g. "Who'd stoop to blame /This sort of trifling?" "E'en then would be some stooping; and I chose never to stoop"; "This grew; I gave command; /Then all smiles stopped together"; "There she stands/As if alive," etc.)
4. What does the ending reveal about the duke? For instance, the mentioning of dowry, and "Neptune...taming a see-horse."
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