Talk:My Last Duchess

Encyclopedic?
I'm sorely tempted to cut anything in this article that smacks of "interpretation" (and that means most of it). Literary analysis and explication, however valid and worthwhile, are not proper to an encyclopedia, agreed? ForDorothy 00:26, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * if the analysis and explication comes from established respected literary experts, explaining how this poem is viewed and interpreted by the literary community, then it is quite valid. otherwise, yes you're probably right. --dan 11:06, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

An encyclopedia which is as unusual and ingenious as 'Wikipedia'is not subject to the usual rules of engagement. Unlike the dusty dictionary lying forgotten upon the shelf, "Wikipedia" is vital and subject to the constant wave of change.It is the literary analysis which drew my attention to this page, and yes, it is "proper to an encyclopedia"such as this. If the critic does not agree she is welcome to return to the dark dank corner of the local library where she can find many copies of the "Encyclopedia Brittanica" decaying upon the shelves.--81.129.75.115 20:03, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Meter
It doesn't really make any sense to say that iambic pentameter is "prevailing" in the poem. The whole poem is in iambic pentameter: that is, every line has five feet, and the huge majority of the feet are iambic. That's the definition of iambic pentameter. The fact that there are places where a spondaic foot or a bracchic foot is substituted for an iambic foot doesn't change that; all iambic poetry has occasional foot substitution in it, for reasons of rhythm or to emphasize a given syllable. The only way you could call iambic pentameter "prevailing" in a poem would be if most of the lines were in iambic pentameter but some lines were in dactylic hexameter or something. Fumblebruschi (talk) 19:41, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Famously the opening line starts with a trochaic foot - and there are quite a few of them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.70.198 (talk) 20:44, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell Is about a young Medici duchess named Lucrezia who is murdered by her narcissist husband. 71.92.216.111 (talk) 23:49, 26 September 2022 (UTC)