Select one of the following prompts, and write a short constructed response (here on the blog). I would advise writing your response in a Word document, saving it to Google Docs or on your flash drive, and then copying and pasting it into a blog post. This is the best way to ensure that you do not lose your work if the blog freezes up. Don't forget to give your post an original title!
1. The Duke reveals himself to be an emotionally cold, calculating, materialistic, haughty, aristocratic connoisseur; on the positive side, he is a patron of such artists as Fra Pandolf and Claus of Innsbruck (both fictional). What does the duke value in art? What does he see as his role in the creation of great art?
2. The speaker is the arrogant, art-collecting Duke of Ferrara. We might even call him the protagonist, for, although we may not agree with him, we are virtually compelled to identify with him since he speaks directly to us, with a mediating narrator. How does Browning force us to place our sympathies with so objectionable a persona?
3. The Duke eliminated (divorced? sent to a convent? had executed or poisoned?) his last duchess because (he felt) she undervalued him and treated him much as she treated other men. Which trivial incidents in particular seem to have produced this response in the Duke?
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