“My Last Duchess” analysis

The extract "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning. In this poem the speaking voice is the Duke of Ferrara, the protagonist, who speaks with a painting representing his wife. The setting seems Renaissance and the situation described does not have precise temporal references as far as geographic ones are concerned, we have the indication of the city of Ferrara.

Reading the title, the reader's attention focuses on "My" which communicates a sense of possession related to the Duchess. Subsequently, the attention shifts to the words "Last" and "Duchess", one senses that probably the Duchess is dead and that someone very close to him talks about it. "Last", in particular, referring to a person, communicates the sense of loss and pain.

Speaking of the structure of the poem there are 28 rhyming pentameter lines AABBCCDD is all one room and the only interruptions are those that Robert Browning indicates with punctuation.

The Duke of Ferrara is probably talking to an indefinite interlocutor, showing a painting of his duchess commissioned from Fra 'Pandolph. The Duchess seems alive and the Duke defines her as a "wonder".

The Duke appears as a very possessive and authoritarian person, saying "My Last Duchess" underlines the possessive character. Speaking about the woman, the first piece of information the speaking voice provides the reader deals with her glance: "the depth and passion of its earnest glance". It seems to be a positive image, but going on reading the monologue, the speaking voice says that "her looks went everywhere" and since his possessive nature has already partly come to surface.

The text shows that the Duke uses the pretext of talking about his wife to indirectly show his attitude and power. 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. 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. Her duchess continued smiling whenever someone passed her, until he “gave commands, then all smiles stopped together”. Now the reader also realizes the speaking voice decided to kill his wife because he could not possess her.

In conclusion, what emerges from the poem is the duke's weakness: self-centered, possessive and individual, typical of those who want everything to be under his control. His individualism is literally transmitted by the strong presence of the pronoun "I." While her weakness is represented by the inability to have control over her.