My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning. From the title, the reader creates some expectations about the possible content of the text: the dramatic monologue maybe deals about a duchess’ life. Observing the dramatic monologue, the reader can notice some differences with the others dramatic monologues. In Browning’s work, the text isn’t organized into stanzas because the poet wants to put in evidence the nature of his work: it is a dramatic monologue in which thoughts are presented as they crop up in the character’s mind, so they don’t request a division into different parts. Besides, an intelligent reader can notice the presence of the setting of the poem: it is setting in the city of Ferrara. The setting can contribute to create in the reader’s mind a geographical context. Returning to the title’s analysis, the possessive adjective “my” gives the idea of possession. Another important element that highlights the kind of the poem is the presence of a speaking voice that talks to a silent listener: the text is a dramatic monologue. In the first part of the dramatic monologue, the speaking voice invites the listener to sit for looking the Duchess’ painting on the wall. The attention of the speaking voice, that is the Duke, is focused on the Duchess’ aspect: she seems as if she were alive. Besides the Duke describes his wife through her expressions: she has an earnest glance and this indicates the woman’s inner feature. The reader can notice the use of a particular language: the Duke uses a conversational tone and his speech is interrupted a lot of times by some thoughts and considerations. An important aspect that comes into surface is the role of the Duke within the dramatic monologue: the main character of the poem isn’t the Duchess as the reader thought at the beginning but the main character is the Duke. In the central part of the dramatic monologue, the speaking voice explains the reason why the Duke ordered the Duchess’ murder: his wife smiled to men when they passed near her. It emerges the Duke’s jealousy and his desire of possession. The Duke demonstrates his personality through this action: he is a violent and possessive person. In the final part of the dramatic poem, the poet wants to communicate to the reader the function of the poem: it is an advertisement to reflect about the relationship between man and woman, between wife and husband. When a person becomes object of desire, it is necessary to take distances to avoid epilogs such as the Duchess’ murder. In addition to this the reader is aware about the main topic of the poem: it is about the nature of human being. It isn’t a positive nature because human being is sometimes able to act without using the reason.