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58 pages 1 hour read

Julia Quinn

The Duke and I

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

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Essay Topics

1.

What is the effect of the Whistledown entries on the reader’s understanding of the social world Daphne and Simon inhabit?

2.

How is motherhood significant in the lives of both Daphne and Simon, beyond Daphne’s own desire for parenthood?

3.

Consider Daphne’s relationships with her brothers. What does the reader learn about her through them?

4.

How does Quinn demonstrate that her fictional Regency England is a world where women’s social power is significant, if less apparent than men’s?

5.

How does Simon journey into adulthood over the course of the novel, despite already holding his title as the work opens?

6.

How does marriage to Simon change Daphne’s views on love’s ability to change another person?

7.

In what way is Simon’s identity crisis also crisis of masculinity and gender roles?

8.

How does Quinn use humor to establish that Daphne and Simon are well-suited and understand each other?

9.

How is Daphne constrained by the gender norms of her society, and in what ways does she defy them?

10.

How does Simon rely on the perceptions of others to conceal his speech disability, and how does this affect his relationship with Daphne?

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