Analysis of My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.

My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning and published in 1842.

The dramatis persona is a duke, maybe Alfonso II of Este (like the name "Ferrara" suggests), a nobleman during Renaissance. The monologue is set in the duke's castle in Ferrara and, in particular, in his paintings gallery, in front of her beloved's fresco ("That's my last Duchess painted on the wall").

There are two characters: the duke, whose point of view is adopted by the narrator, and a messenger, who is looking at the fresco with him.

Starting from the title, the word "my" implies possession: it follows that the duke may be an obsessive lover.

Furthermore, the word "last" suggests that there will be no more duchesses for him: "last" implies an ending and, perhaps, the duchess is going to die.

The duke, in front of the fresco, firstly remembers about the painting itself, then about the duchess: he likes the piece of art, but at the same time he remembers that the duchess was not as faithful as she should have been (Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt / whene'er I passed her; but who passed without /much the same smile?).

Throughout the text, the image of the duchess comes to the surface: she was beautiful ("that piece a wonder") and fascinating ("The depth and passion of its earnest glance"), but, at the same time, the duke accuses her of unfaithfulness (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).

However, it seems as if he were still in love with her: the intelligent reader recognizes the conflict between the actual feelings and the past memories.

Browning is focusing the reader's attention on the duke's controversial and tormented interiority: his figure comes to the forefront, because he reveals his weaknesses and his ideas.

If it is true that the dramatis persona is Alfonso II of Este, the duchess may be Lucrezia Medici of Florence, who died in mysterious circumstances after two years of marriage. We know from historical data that Alfonso was accused of murder, but his guiltiness was never proved.

In juxtaposing scenes, the dramatis persona structures a subjective discourse, in which meanings are mainly revealed by language.

As result, the monologue provides an authentic image of the duke: he usually adopts expressions such as "how shall I say?" or "I know not how", which show the hidden part of the character's mind, that is, even if he is not aware of it, he is revealing his inner nature through
language. It is the greatest element of the dramatic monologue: the reader knows much more about the duke that about the duchess, even if he never speaks about himself directly. 

Concluding, the reader supposes that the duke killed his wife for an excess of jealousy, since she was unfaithful, even if he still loves her.

Summarizing (esercizio scheda)

In My Last Duchess, a classical example of dramatic monologue, Browning portrays an eccentric character taken from the Italian Renaissance. The Duke (possibly Alfonso II of Este) is talking to the envoy of the Count of Tyrol, showing him the portrait of his beautiful young former wife.

The portrait preserves an unworthy image of his wife, who is now under his complete control while in life her innocent freedom and love for people seemed to him faults of his nine-hundred-year-old name.

Browning aims at creating a character whose moral ideal come out of the situation: he ordered the murder of an innocent creature following his monstrous pride ("I choose never to stoop") and his own distorted view of life.
This is reached through the skilful change of perspective between present and past and of a colloquial language which expresses the Duke's force and rhetoric.