Learning Path » 5B Interacting
GLiprandi - My Last Duchess by Robert Browning-Summary
by - (2011-02-20)
Up to 5 B - Victorian Poetry. The Dramatic Monologue 
The text is about the description of a duchess by a duke painted on the wall. "My last" makes it clear to the reader that the woman belonged to the duke, and they were married. The Duke describes the framework for a listener unknown ("stranger") who never speaks. The two characters are on the second floor of a gallery, in fact, the duke invites the viewer to sit down and looking at the framework. In the words of "Sir" the reader understands that the woman is already dead and, in fact, she was killed on the orders of the duke kept of jealousy. In fact, the Duke hated the looks of the Duchess to other men. After describing, the two characters fall under the first floor where the Duke points out to the stranger the statue of Neptune taming a seahorse.