Comparing ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ and ‘My Last Duchess’
The exam question will ask you to write about one named poem and you must choose a second one
from your chosen cluster to compare. For example:
Compare how a character is presented in ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ and one other poem
from ‘Character and Voice’.
In ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ we hear a woman’s voice reflecting on her relationships with men and their
attitudes to her before and after marriage.
Which poem would make a good choice for comparison? You could discuss this question with a
partner, listing some possible choices. In revising, you could prepare essay plans, using bullet points
for connections between the poems.
Let’s assume you have chosen Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue ‘My Last Duchess’. Here we
have a male perspective on marriage – even if it is a rather unusual and extreme one!
Working with a partner, make bullet point notes to complete the boxes on the following pages.
1
Language, structure and form
Select some of the most interesting or striking aspects of the way the two poems are
written.
‘Les Grands Seigneurs’

Words are chosen to make men appear faintly ridiculous – ‘strutting’, ‘prancing’…
‘My Last Duchess’

Duke reveals his arrogant possessive nature through his speech – ‘My gift of a ninehundred-years-old name’
2
Ideas and themes
What are the main ideas in each poem?
‘Les Grands Seigneurs’

Male attitudes change dramatically (‘overnight’) – she was ‘enthroned’ while being courted;
becomes ‘a bit of fluff’ once married
‘My Last Duchess’

The Duke seems more comfortable with his dead wife’s portrait than her living presence – ‘I
call that piece a wonder, now’ – the comma suggests a pause before emphasising the word
‘now’
When your notes are complete, use them to plan a response to the question.
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