Worksheet on My Last Duchess

English
Year 9
9 questions
~18 mins
1 views0 downloads

About This Worksheet

A worksheet focusing on the poem 'My Last Duchess' with creative writing tasks and analysis related to its historical setting.

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Worksheet on My Last Duchess

Subject: EnglishGrade: Year 9
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Untitled Worksheet

Grade Year 9
A

Extract from 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning

That piece a wonder, now:  How, where’s the count’s daughter? Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive. Will ’t please you sit and look at her? I said, ‘Fra Pandolf’ by design, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, The depth and passion of its earnest glance, But to myself they turned (since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) And I have drawn for you, to make her smile Within the painted countenance of her doll-like face. She had /A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. Sir, ’twas not her husband’s presence only, called That spot of joy into her cheek;—perhaps It was not her husband’s presence only, called That spot of joy into her cheek;—perhaps The inmost heart’s of her, her eyes, her cheek, Her dresses, her smiles, her gestures, all were Part of her joy, and not of her husband’s. I Choose never to stoop; oh, sir, she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. This Is all— Sir, ’twas not her husband’s presence only, called That spot of joy into her cheek;—perhaps It was not her husband’s presence only, called That spot of joy into her cheek;—perhaps The inmost heart’s of her, her eyes, her cheek, Her dresses, her smiles, her gestures, all were Part of her joy, and not of her husband’s.

1.
Identify and explain one poetic technique used by Browning in this extract.
[2 marks]
2.
How does Browning’s depiction of the Duke reflect Victorian attitudes towards marriage and social status?
[3 marks]
3.
What does the phrase ‘all smiles stopped together’ suggest about the Duchess’s fate?
[2 marks]
4.
Discuss the significance of the Duke’s control over the portrait of the Duchess.
[5 marks]
5.
Analyse the tone of the Duke when he describes the Duchess’s personality and behaviour.
[5 marks]
6.
Compare the Duke’s attitude towards the Duchess with Victorian societal expectations of women.
[3 marks]
7.
Creative Task: Imagine you are the Duchess. Write a letter to a friend describing your feelings about your marriage and your social life, based on the extract and historical context.
[10 marks]
8.
Identify three clues in the extract that hint at the Duke’s possible guilt or violent nature.
[3 marks]
9.
Explain how Browning’s use of dramatic monologue adds to the psychological depth of the poem.
[4 marks]

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Details

Created
12/31/2025
Updated
12/31/2025
Type
worksheet