MY LAST DUCHESS – Robert Browning

My Last Duchess is one of the most famous examples of a Dramatic Monologue of the Victorian Age, written by Robert Browning. Its relevance consists in arousing in the reader that feeling of sympathy that the dramatic monologue is supposed to convey.

Starting from the title, the reader’s attention is particularly focused on the words “My” and “Last”. The first one implies a possessive and very close attitude, probably of a man and probably of the dramatis personaehimself, towards his woman. The second word implies that there are no other women after the "Duchess". However, it is also important to take into account the word “Duchess”, since it refers to the social status of the character. Therefore, considering the title, the intelligent reader could understand that the poem will be about the relationship between a nbleman and his duchess. In addition, between the title and the text, there is a subtitle: “Ferrara”, which probably refers to the setting.

Taking now into consideration the structure, although the text is a poem, it is not divided into stanzas.

The speaking voice is different from the poet’s one and belongs to the Duke of Ferrara, who is speaking to his addresser, who is supposed not to respond since the poem is a monologue. The duke is showing to his interlocutor a fresco of his last wife, which was usually covered by a curtain. So, now the reader realizes that the setting is an indoor one in the city of Ferrara and, since the Duke belongs to a high social class, the setting could be the room of the castle of Ferrara with the paintings gallery. Therefore, the poem is set in the duke’s castle in Ferrara, in his paintings gallery, in front of a fresco of his duchess. In showing the fresco, the duke says some expressions that strike the reader’s attention. For example:

• by the words “looking as if she were alive” the reader understands the Duchess is dead;
• in the sentence “I call That piece a wonder, now”, the word “now” after the coma, is in a key position since it implies that before he didn’t consider the fresco in the same way than in the present of the narration. Indeed, the artist, “Fra’ Pandolf”, had to work “busily a day” to finish it and therefore it isn’t properly a piece of wander;
• after inviting his addressee to sit and contemplate the fresco, the duke, by saying ““Fra Pandolf” by design”, wants to underline that no one but he and Fra Pandolf had never seen the painting and therefore he wants to make his interlocutor realize the great privilege the duke is giving him in letting him see the duchess’ portrait. Moreover, by using an assertive tone, the speaking voice underlines his power on the fresco: he is the only one who can decide who can see it and who cannot;
• the expression “the depth and passion of its earnest glance” shows that the speaking voice does not let his interlocutor free to analyse the fresco because he wants him to focus on her glance;
• the expression “since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I” highlights one more time duke’s possessiveness and the interlocutor’s privilege.

Summing up, in the first lines, comes into surface the possessive, obsessed and jealous personality of the duke towards the fresco of his woman. His attitude probably suggests that the Duke is patronizing the fresco in the same way he wanted to patronize his Duchess when she was still alive. Therefore, now it is clear that the duke uses the pretext of talking about his wife to indirectly show his attitude and power. Consequently, it is evident that the poet privileges the narrative technique of showing, instead of the one of telling. In addition, it seems a paradox because, even if the poem seems to be about the Duchess, the Duke reveals more about himself than about the relationship with his woman, as the insistence presence of the pronoun “I” suggests: "my last Duchess", "I call", "I said", "I have", "but I", "ask me"...

Going on, in the following lines the duke’s jealousy is even more evident. Indeed, he supposes his interlocutor is intrigued by the Duchess’ glance in the fresco or maybe the reason of such a glance is just his obsession. He tries to explain himself why she smiled in that way, because he couldn't bear that she could smile to everybody in the same way she smiled at him, even if she did it only for courtesy. In particular, the duke says: “She had A heart—how shall I say? — too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere”. For this reason, the speaking voice feels “as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift”.

Duke’s jealousy grew every day more. Her duchess continued smiling whenever someone passed her (“but who passed without much the same smile?”), until he “gave commands, then all smiles stopped together”. Here, the reader understands that the conjectures he/she could have made after the duke reported Fra Pandolf words in lines 18-20 (Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint 

Half-flush that dies along her throat) were right: the duke was the one who gave commands to kill the duchess, who now stands “as if alive” in the fresco, smiling only at him, so that now his individualism is satisfied. Now the reader also realizes the speaking voice decided to kill his wife because he could not possess her.

The poem ends with the duke showing to his interlocutor a statue of Neptune “taming a sea-horse” that well symbolizes his attitude towards the duchess.

Concluding, what comes into surface from the poem is the weak nature of the duke, who has a self-centered, possessive and individual personality and who wants everything to be under his control. His individualism is literary conveyed by the strong presence of the pronoun “I”. In particular, his weakness is clearly visible when he expresses his obsession towards his duchess, who smiles at everybody, and therefore his weakness is represented by the inability to have the control towards her. Maybe his need to have everything under control is conveyed by the regular rhyme scheme AABBCCDD.