Name________________________________________________
“My Last Duchess” Discussion Questions
In your group, answer the following questions. Make sure to note textual evidence and reference
line numbers.
Each student should take notes during the group discussion to use during class discussion and to
hand in at the end of class.
1. What happened to the last Duchess?
2. What are some key words? How does the poet’s word choice affect meaning in the
poem? What is the impact of the repetition of the words “I,” “my,” and “myself”?
3. How do you feel about the narrator? What words would you use to describe him?
“My Last Duchess” Discussion Questions, page 2
4. How do you feel about the Duchess? What words would you use to describe her?
5. What is the reader’s role in “My Last Duchess”? How does the perception of the reader
differ from what the narrator is saying?
6. How does the choice of narrator affect the story that is told? How would the story differ
if another character told it (choose one: the Duchess, Fra Pandolph, the envoy)?