“My last Duchess” is a poetry written by Robert Browning in 1845, that takes part in the collection “Dramatic Romances and Lyrics”. 

Just reading the title, the intelligent reader understands that the poetry is dedicated to’ a woman, who was probably loved by the poet. The word “duchess” puts in evidence that that person belonged to a high class of society and so she might be rich and famous. Futhermore, the adjective “last” underlines that the poet, or the protagonist of the poetry, had no-one after her or that she is last one he just had. 

Analising the structure, the reader notes the poetry is arrenged in iambic pentameters  with rhyming couplets. As a result, his expectations are to find a high language, characterized by use of allegories and figures of speech.

After a careful reading, the reader understands the content of the poetry. It takes part in the XVI century in Ferrara’s court. The protagonist is the Duke Alfonso II d’Este, who is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke’s marriage to the daughter of another powerful family. As he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl. The Duke begins describing the portrait refering to duchess’ behaivours that he did not like. He claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his “gift of a nine-hundred-years- old name.” As his monologue continues, the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke in fact caused the Duchess’s early demise: when her behavior escalated, “[he] gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.” Having made this disclosure, the Duke returns to the business at hand: arranging for another marriage, with another young girl. As the Duke and the emissary walk leave the painting behind, the Duke points out other notable artworks in his collection.

Focalizing the attention on connotation levels, “My Last Duchess” comprises rhyming pentameter lines. The lines do not employ end-stops, but the use enjambment. As a result, sentences and other grammatical units do not necessarily conclude at the end of lines. Consequently, the rhymes do not create a sense of closure when they come, but they speed up time to underline Duke’s compulsive revelations. Indeed, he is quite a performer: he mimics others’ voices, creates hypothetical situations, and uses the force of his personality to make horrifying information seem merely colorful. As a result, the poem provides a classic example of a dramatic monologue: the speaker is clearly distinct from the poet; an audience is suggested but never appears in the poem; and the revelation of the Duke’s character is the poem’s primary aim.

Furthermore, the use of language and the figures of speech puts in evidence Duke’s possessiveness and violent pride: the Duchess was punished for her natural sexuality and all of her supposed transgressions took place only in Duke’s mind. 

Considering the overall effect, “My Last Duchess” affects the psychological level of the reader. Indeed, Browning forces his reader to become involved in the poem in order to understand it, and this adds to the fun of reading his work. It also forces the reader to consider which aspect of the poem dominates: the horror of the Duchess’s fate, or the beauty of the language and the powerful dramatic development. 

It also forces the reader to consider if the horror of the Duchess’s fate imposes itself on the beauty of the language and it development, or the other way around.