Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
MY LAST DUCHESS
Consider the following points:
a. The speaker
1. Is he a character quite separate from the poet? Yes, he is. The poet doesn't appear in the poem, because it is based on the Duke's interior monologue.
2. Has he been drawn from history or legend or has he been created by the writer? Probably he has been drawn from history. He might be Alfonso II, fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533-1598), while the Duchess might be Lucrezia de' Medici (the daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici).
3. Is he delineated against a precise setting in time and place? While the place is explicit (Ferrara, probably the court of Este family), there is no precise reference to the time, even if, since we are dealing with this dynasty, the poem is supposed to be set in the XVI century.
b. The listener
1. His presence can only be inferred from clues in the text. Underline them.
● Will you sit and look at her
● Strangers like you
● I have drawn for you
● Not the first are you
● Will't please you rise
● The Count your master
● Notice...
2. Is there any interaction between the speaker and listener? I don't think so. Of course the Duke is speaking to his listener, but at the same time Browning uses a dramatic monologue: there is so an evident public, who can't interact or express his opinion. As a matter of fact the duke decides when the "stranger" must see the picture and when he has to go, when speaking of his secret feelings and past life and when changing subject of discussion.
c. The present situation. Is the situation or the event the speaker hints at of a crucial importance for his life? Yes, it is. As a matter of fact the Duke remember his wife as his last (and not latest) duchess, even if he is going to get married soon.
d. The subject-matter.
1. The monologue refers to a past and present situation. Is there any relationship between the two? Yes, there is. As a matter of fact in the present situation he his going to meet the Count whose daughter the Duke is going to marry. The past event is the killing of his past wife. They are of course related because he is going to get married again since his wife has died.
2. As you will probably realized the monologue arises out of a concrete situation and at the same time reveals the temperament of the character and the speaker. How would you characterize the Duke?
● PROUD: he says that he chooses never to stoop
● JEALOUS and POSSESSIVE: he killed his wife because of her glances and the smiles to other men
● CLASS-CONSCIOUS: he says that he gives his wife his gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name.
3. Is there any discrepancy between how the Duke sees himself and how you see him? I think so, because he often justify his behaviour: he seems quite sure to be right and not excessively jealous, possessive etc...
e. The language.
The monologue displays various characteristics of the spoken languages. Find one example in the poem for each characteristics:
● Anaphoric structure: Will you; or...or
● Reference to the situation in which the speaker and the listener find themselves: we'll go together down, sir.
● Direct address: will't please you rise?
● Contracted forms: will't; e'en
● Pauses, signalled by dashes: from line 29 to 40
● Fillers when searching for the right expression: I know not how
f. The tone.
How would you describe the tone of the monologue?
I think he is reflective because it s as if the Duke were reflecting on what happened just to find a justification and not to let another person know his story. It is, of course, also reminiscent because he remembers his wife, her behaviours and his reaction.