Different Interpretations of Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess' by EFL Students

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the EFL students' potential for having their own attitudes when interpreting Robert Browning's dramatic monologue, 'My Last Duchess', through the analysis of the poem and supporting their attitudes with evidence from the poem. After the researcher/teacher had read the poem to the undergraduate EFL students and explained its form and language in a neutral voice open to different interpretations, students were asked to write their interpretations of the poem from their own perspectives quoting the words/lines of the poem that support their attitudes as evidence. The findings showed that students' interpretations had four perspectives: (1) the Duke is a man deeply in love, maddened and blinded by jealousy, (2) the Duchess is an inconsiderate wife, (3) the Duke is a possessive and dominating husband, and (4) the Duchess is a woman who does not meet the expectations of her position (as a Duchess). The analysis revealed that EFL students had the potential for developing capacities and skills of critical reading of literature but they need more practice and time.