Hello, it is great to see you today.

My name's Ms. Sutherland, and today we'll be analysing the poem, "My Last Duchess" together.

Today we are going to explore how Browning uses language and structure to present power in his poem, "My Last Duchess".

We have four key words today.

The first one is objectify.

Objectify means to treat a person like a tool or a toy and to deny them of their emotions.

Despot, a despot is a person who has absolute power and exerts it in a cruel or oppressive way.

Expose, expose is to show what has been covered or hidden.

And irony, irony is when something that was intended to have a particular result actually has the opposite result.

All of these words are going to be absolutely crucial in your analysis of the poem, "My Last Duchess".

Pause a video and take a note of these words now.

Wonderful, to start off with, we are going to look at what's arts may symbolise in the poem, "My Last Duchess" and why Browning chooses to make art an important theme of his poem.

We're then going to look at interpretations of the Duke and we are going to make our own interpretation of the Duke's character.

So let's start off with looking at the symbolism of art in "My Last Duchess".

I want you to take a moment to discuss what does artwork mean to you.

Pause the video and discuss that with your partner.

What do you think of when you think of art? Off you go.

Hmm, you may have said that art is often valued for its aesthetic, that art is often a possession.

Maybe people hang it up in their homes and they're quite proud of it.

In the Italian Renaissance when the poem is set, art had a significant value.

Here are some of the important ideas about art in the Italian renaissance to be aware of.

So first of all, in the Italian Renaissance, art was a symbol of wealth and status.

So if someone had lots of impressive artwork in their homes, they could be showing off their wealth and status, and anyone that visits that home would be reminded of their wealth and status.

Also, art can be a symbol of sophistication if artwork was created in distant lands, meaning if an artist that lived a bit far away from you created work for you, that would be a sign of your sophistication.

That fact, you can have artwork from a foreign or distant land.

So that's a little bit about artwork in the Italian Renaissance.

So these are ideas that Browning probably was aware of as he wrote this poem.

I now want us to be able to link that information we've read to the poem.

So open your anthology now.

I want you to reread the first four lines of "My Last Duchess".

I then want you to reread the last four lines of "My Last Duchess".

What did you notice about the first four lines and the last four lines? Is there any patterns that you can see? Pause the video and discuss, what did you notice.

Let's take a look now.

The first four lines go as follows, "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive.

I call that piece of wonder now; Fra Pandolf's hands worked busily a day, and there she stands." The last four lines go as follows, "At starting, is my object.

Nay we'll go down together, sir.

Notice Neptune note taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me." So the poem begins with the Duke talking about art.

We can see that through the word painted on the first stanza, which refers to the Duchess portraits.

It also ends with the Duke talking about art.

You can see he refers to a statue of Neptune in bronze in the last four lines.

So the poem begins and ends in a much the same way.

It begins and ends talking about art.

Browning's reference to artwork is clearly important because he clearly chose to begin and end the poem talking about art for a reason.

What similarities do you notice between how the Duke talks of both pieces of art? So how does he talk about the portrait of his Duchess and how does he talk about that statue of Neptune? Pause video and discuss that now.

The Duke references the artist of both the painting and the statue.

So the Duke says that Fra Pandolf painted his Duchess and that Clause of Innsbruck made that bronze statue.

This is an indication he's boasting of his wealth and status.

Remember we said that if someone had artists from far away create work for them, it could be a symbol of sophistication.

And indeed the Duke makes a point to name drop Clause of Innsbruck, who we can probably assume is from Austria than Italy.

So that presents this idea that the Duke is trying to show off his sophistication by name dropping Fra Pandolf and indeed Clause of Innsbruck.

I now want you to discuss how does the statue link the Duke's relationship with his late wife? So now we're really digging in to what that statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse could symbolise.

So pause the video and discuss how does the statue link to the Duke's relationship with his late wife? Off you go.

The word taming is very telling as the Duke describes that statue.

He says, "Notice Neptune though taming a sea-horse." The word taming very much mirrors the relationship that Duke had with his late wife.

He sought to exert control over her behaviour, and that's exactly what taming is.

Taming is to make something behave in the way in which you want to stop it from behaving in a wild manner, to restrict its actions.

And we can see that the Duke did that to his late wife because she was smiling a lot.

She spoke to a lot of men, supposedly.

She was flattered a lot, and he didn't like that.

That eventually led to him killing her.

And that was in an effort to tame her supposed wild impulses and promiscuous behaviour.

So therefore, we can say that the statue of Neptune very much symbolises the relationship the Duke had with his late wife.

Let's explode this quotation to explore another layer to the way the Duke presents his artwork.

The quote is, "Since none puts by the curtain, that I have drawn for you, but I." What does the Duke mean here? What does this bracketed aside reveal about the Duke? What does the curtain suggest? What does the noun none imply and what is emphasised by the comma and final phrase, "But I".

Pause video and answer those questions to successfully explode this quote with analysis.

Off you go.

Let's go through some answers.

The Duke means that he's the only one allowed to open the curtain that conceals the portrait of his last Duchess.

What does this bracketed aside reveal about the Duke the bracketed? A bracketed aside implies that the Duke did not necessarily have to say this, but he forced it into the conversation to show off and boast about the control he has over this painting.

What does the curtain suggest? Well, the curtain is a layer between the Duchess and the outside world, and it acts as a way to conceal the painting and shield it from the outside.

So we could say that the curtain is a deliberate barrier made by the Duke to make sure that the Duchess doesn't see anyone else and no one else sees the Duchess because of course, what he was jealous about initially was the way she reacted with other people.

So the curtain essentially blocks out other people from seeing the Duchess, which allows the Duke to finally have control over his Duchess.

The noun none, let's look at that now.

The noun nun is just to really emphasise that absolutely no one else has access to this painting, and it shows how the Duke was very possessive because he wants to be the only one that has access to his Duchess.

And finally, what is emphasised by the comma and final phrase, "But I"? Well, essentially the Duke is again, just trying to really boast about his power and control over the Duchess here because he didn't actually have to say, "But I", he could have just left it as no one puts by this curtain.

But he said, "But I", meaning he's really trying to get the message across really quite strongly that he's the only one to access and reveal this painting, and he's making the envoy seem like he has a special privilege in viewing this painting.

Well done on exploding that quote.

Let's look at this question now to check your understanding of what we've talked about so far.

What is similar about the beginning and ending of the poem "My Last Duchess"? Pause video and answer that question now.

Well done if you said, the beginning and ending of "My Last Duchess" are similar because they both depict artwork.

Remember the beginning of the poem depicts the portraits of the last Duchess, and the end of the poem depicts a statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse.

The next question I want you to answer is, why might the Duke keep the painting of the Duchess behind a curtain? Pause the video and answer that question now.

Well done if you said the Duke probably keeps the painting of the Duchess behind the curtain because he wants to control who sees the painting.

Remember we said that the curtain acts as a barrier between the Duchess and the outside world.

Without drawing that curtain, no one can see her and she can't see anyone.

And of course, that is a way for the Duke to exert control by drawing the curtain only when he see fit.

Izzy's been learning along with us today and she has an idea based on what we've been talking about.

She says, "The narrator of this poem craves power and control." I want you to write an analytical paragraph using Izzy's topic sentence here.

Use the poem's references to artwork and what it symbolises to help you find support for Izzy's statement.

Here's your checklist for your writing today.

You've got your topic sentence, you're going to use Izzy's topic sentence.

So what you need then is a quote.

You need to make inferences.

You need to mention the effect of any literary devices you've noticed.

You need to use tentative language.

So remember that's phrases such as perhaps might, may, could.

And you also may need to discuss relevant contextual links.

Contextual links are talking about the Victorian era in which the poem was written, talking about the Italian renaissance in which the poem was set and talk, and how values and beliefs in those times may have linked to the poem.

So pause the video now and write your analytical paragraph using Izzy's topic sentence.

Off you go, Excellent effort with your writing.

Let's go through an example of what you could have written.

The narrator of this poem, craves power and control.

He boasts, "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall", revealing how he sought to objectify his wife through artwork to have complete control over her.

Her "Looking as if alive" could imply he values her more in death now she is his mere possession.

In an aside, he boasts to the envoy, "Since none puts by the curtain that I've drawn for you, but I".

The curtain is symbolic of the Duke craving control over his wife as he prevents anyone from looking at her.

By implying that he is granting a privilege to the envoy in allowing him to take a glance at the painting he attempts to create a powerful visage of himself.

I want you now to think about what did this student do well? Refer to the checklist when answering that question.

Off you go.

The student did include three quotes.

They've got, "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall." They've got "Looking as if alive" and they've got, "Since none puts by the curtain that I've drawn for you, but I".

We've also got some inferences here.

Look at the phrase, could imply he values her more in depth now she is his mere possession.

This student has mentioned the effect of a literary device because the student mentions the use of symbolism.

The student does use tentative language.

The student says, "This could imply", however this student has not been able to make their relevant contextual links.

So now we've self assessed this student's answer.

I want you to have a go at self-assessing your own work and improving your work when necessary.

Pause video, self-assess and improve your work now.

Brilliant, self-reflection is so important in helping you to move forward with your analytical writing.

Now let's go on to our second learning cycle where we'll be looking at interpretations of the Duke.

So when we read a text, we are first met with the narrator's presentation of the world.

We can then begin to interrogate the narrator's presentation of the world and decide what we think about the narrator's perspective.

We can use our interpretation of the narrator to speculate what the poet's or author intended the narrator to be presented as and why.

So let's have a go at that for the character of the Duke, the Duke is of course the narrator.

So firstly, think about how the Duke presents himself.

How does he want us to perceive him? Then think about what actually is your impression of the Duke? Is it at odds with how he wants to present himself potentially? And then I want you to consider Browning, what do you think Browning intended the Duke's character to be like and why? Pause video and answer those three questions to dig deeper into the character of the Duke now.

So the Duke presents himself as a powerful man with a lot of control, and we see this in how he tries to exert the control over his Duchess, the way he boasts about his artwork.

Now, what is our impression of the Duke? Well, I dunno about you, but my impression of the Duke is that he's a pitiful character.

He's someone that couldn't stand his own wife being free.

And he's someone that stooped very, very low and committed a heinous act just to have control over her.

Personally, I see right through his facade of power.

So let's now think about Browning.

Remember, Browning may have intended "My Last Duchess" to be a critique of Victorian society.

So he makes expose the weakness of the Duke to criticise the oppressive, patriarchal society that he lived in.

So our interpretation of the Duke is purposefully manipulated by Browning.

Browning wanted us to see right through the Duke's facade.

Browning did that in order to expose the weakness of the oppressive patriarchal society.

So let's summarise interpretations of the Duke.

Whilst on one hand, "My Last Duchess" is a poem about a despot showing off his immense power over his late wife.

Another more nuanced way to look at the presentation of the Duke is that whilst he seeks to make himself look powerful, we can interrogate his character via Browning's literary choices to see his powerlessness.

So that's where Sophia's idea comes to play, that the Duke's desperate desire for control is a mark of his own powerlessness.

And indeed we sense that is the interpretation that perhaps Browning wanted us to get to.

So now I want you to discuss with your partner, how exactly does Browning successfully expose the Duke's powerlessness? We need to be able to support Sophia's idea.

So can you look into the text and can you find examples of how Browning exposes the Duke's powerlessness? Pause the video and discuss now.

I now want you to consider how each piece of evidence below supports this idea.

So he says, "She liked whatever she looked on and her looks went everywhere." "I gave commands." The poem is arranged in tight rhyming couplets.

The use of en enjambment throughout the poem.

The dramatic monologue form means we do not hear from anyone but the Duke's perspective and the quote, "Since none puts by the curtain that I have drawn for you, but I." So how do each of those pieces of evidence support this idea that Browning exposes the Duke's powerlessness? Pause video and discuss that now.

So let's just pick out a few examples and talk through them.

So, "She liked whatever she looked on and her looks went everywhere." That is a really petty argument from the Duke as to why his Duchess was being promiscuous.

So what I see here is Browning exposing the Duke's powerlessness because the Duke was jealous over such trivial masses and the Duke was really angered and frustrated over such small actions performed by his late wife.

So that to me, exposes the weakness of the Duke that he was so bothered by such little meaningless actions of his wife.

Let's also look at the enjambment then.

So enjambment is the poetic technique where one line merges on to the next with no pause.

Now Browning utilises this throughout this poem, and the poem acts as a flowing dramatic monologue.

So if we really think about it, the use of enjambment reflects the fact that the Duke does not pause at all.

He continues and continues and continues to speak about his last Duchess.

And to me, that could be showing how the Duke does not have control over his emotions because he cannot seem to reign in his thoughts and feelings.

He keeps on going and that shows that he can't control his anger perhaps or can't control his jealousy.

And someone that can't control their emotions strikes me as a weak or powerless person.

So that could be another way in which Browning exposes the Duke's powerlessness.

I'm going to put some more ideas on the screen now.

The Duke reveals he was crippled with jealousy over trivial matters.

We've discussed that already.

"I gave commands", the Duke's only way to exert control and feel powerful was to kill his wife.

The poem is arranged in tight rhyming cups.

This could mirror the Duke's obsession with controlling his wife and the lengths he went to.

The use of a enjambment as we spoken about already could show the Duke not being able to control his anger as he cannot stop himself from erupting into a lengthy monologue about his late wife.

The dramatic monologue form means we do not hear from anyone but the Duke's perspective.

The Duke even seeks to control the narrative around his relationship with his late wife.

So that leads us to think, would hearing someone else's perspective put him in a vulnerable situation? And "Since none puts by the curtain that I've drawn for you, but I", the Duke attempts to control his late wife, and now she's dead.

And pitifully he boasts about it.

So these are some ways in which the evidence in the poem reflects the Duke's powerlessness.

Let's check your understanding of what we've talked about.

The use of rhyming couplets throughout the poem may reflect.

Pause video and answer that now.

The use of rhyming couplets throughout the poem may reflect the Duke's need to exert strict control over his wife.

So remember, a rhyming couplet is when two lines next to each other follow the same rhyme pattern and the poem is arranged in tight rhyming couplets throughout.

So that tight and strict control over the form of the poem could reflect indeed the Dukes need to exert strict control over his wife.

Next question, arguably, Browning exposes the Duke's inability to control his emotions via.

Pause video and finish that sentence.

Arguably, Browning exposes the Duke's inability to control his emotions via the use of enjambment.

And of course, we've spoken about exactly why that is previously in the lesson.

It's now time for you to write an analytical paragraph about how the Duke's power is presented in "My Last Duchess".

Use Sophia's topic sentence this time as a basis for your paragraph, her topic sentence is Browning uses irony throughout "My Last Duchess" because the Duke is presented as believing in his supreme power and control.

However, to the reader, he actually comes across as weak and powerless.

Here are some sentence starters to help you on your writing journey.

The Dukes presents himself as.

through.

which implies.

And however Browning's use of.

exposes.

Pause video and start your analytical paragraph now.

Excellent effort there with your writing.

Sophia's topic sentence was really complex and you gave that a great go.

Let's now self-assess.

So self-assess your work against the checklist and edit and improve the work accordingly.

So you needed to have a quote, an inference, mention the effect of a literary device.

You needed to use tentative language and you needed to discuss relevant contextual links.

So pause the video now and self-assess your work and then improve it in accordance with your own feedback.

Off you go.

Brilliant work today, everyone.

I'm really impressed by how you've tackled the analysis of "My Last Duchess" in a superb and mature way today.

Let's go through what we've learned.

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 absolute control.

Enjambment reveals a single person's capacity to be carried away by passions and anger, subtly revealing instability.

Ironically, through his craving for power and control, the Duke reveals himself to be powerless.

And Browning exposing the Duke as powerless and insecure may reflect his critique of patriarchal Victorian society.

I've really enjoyed learning with you today and I hope to see you again soon.