My Last
Duchess
Robert Browning
1812 - 1889
the VICTORIAN era
Queen Victoria
❑ Named after the reining monarch, Queen Victoria, who ruled
Great Britain from 1837 – 1901. Her reign is often
associated with strict social conventions, sexual restraint
and prudishness.
❑ Literature of the time was governed by similarly strict
conventions. Victorian writers and audiences favoured
realism over the imagination and fantasy emphasised by the
Romantics.
❑ The period was characterised by peace; economic
prosperity; positive political reforms; a strong sense of
British nationalism; more widely available education,
especially for girls; rapid progress in science, medicine,
commerce and manufacturing; and an expansion in Britain’s
territorial acquisitions overseas.
the VICTORIAN era
cont.
❑ The Industrial Revolution caused rapid urbanisation, which
led to severe social problems: overcrowding and unhygienic
slums; hunger and malnutrition; lack of sanitation and
rapidly-spreading, deadly diseases such as typhoid, cholera
and tuberculosis; unemployment and rampant crime;
prostitution and child labour – as chimney sweeps, in
factories and mines …
❑ Victorian poets are often viewed as the chroniclers of their
day, reflecting the social conditions and concerns of the era.
❑ The authority of religion continued to be eroded and one of
the key themes of poetry in this era was the relationship
between religion and science. Another theme was the power
of nature.
Queen Victoria
the VICTORIAN era
Queen Victoria
cont.
❑ The Industrial Revolution and its consequences, including
the polarisation of English society into a wealthy middle and
upper class and a larger poor population, was another
theme.
❑ Some poets chose not to engage with this tension, instead
drawing from classical and neoclassical literature and
mythology, rather than from the realities of urban life.
❑ As the century progressed, many writers – most notably
Matthew Arnold, who wrote “Dover Beach” – began to show
features of what would become the Modernist movement in
their poetry.
❑ As women’s access to education and involvement increased,
more and more women began to publish their writing,
introducing new voices an perspectives to the reading public
and paving the way for future female writers.
about the poet
❑ Born on May 7, 1812, in Camberwell, England. His mother was
an accomplished pianist and a devout evangelical Christian. His
father, who worked as a bank clerk, was also an artist, scholar,
antiquarian, and collector of books and pictures. Much of
Browning's education came from his well-read father. It is
believed that he was already proficient at reading and writing by
the age of five.
❑ In 1828, Browning enrolled at the University of London, but he
soon left, anxious to read and learn at his own pace. The random
nature of his education later surfaced in his writing, leading to
criticism of his poems' obscurities.
❑ In 1833, Browning anonymously published his first major
published work, Pauline, and in 1840 he published Sordello,
widely regarded as a failure. He also tried his hand at drama, but
his plays, including Strafford and the Bells and
Pomegranates series, were for the most part unsuccessful.
Robert Browning
about the poet
cont.
❑ Nevertheless, the techniques he developed through his dramatic
monologues—especially his use of diction, rhythm, and symbol—
are regarded as his most important contribution to poetry,
influencing such major poets of the twentieth century as Ezra
Pound, T. S. Eliot, and Robert Frost.
❑ After reading Elizabeth Barrett’s Poems (1844) and
corresponding with her for a few months, Browning met her in
1845. They married in 1846, against the wishes of Barrett's
father. The couple moved to Pisa and then Florence, where they
continued to write. They had a son, Robert "Pen" Browning, in
1849, the same year his Collected Poems was published.
Elizabeth inspired Robert's collection of poems Men and
Women (1855), which he dedicated to her. Now regarded as one
of Browning's best works, the book was received with little notice
at the time; its author was then primarily known as Elizabeth
Barrett's husband.
Elizabeth Barrett
about the poet
cont.
❑ Elizabeth Barrett Browning died in 1861, and Robert and Pen
Browning soon moved to London. Browning went on to publish
Dramatis Personae (1864), and The Ring and the Book (1868–
1869). The latter, based on a seventeenth-century Italian murder
trial, received wide critical acclaim, finally earning a twilight of
renown and respect in Browning's career.
❑ The Browning Society was founded while he still lived, in 1881,
and he was awarded honorary degrees by Oxford University in
1882 and the University of Edinburgh in 1884.
❑ Robert Browning died in Venice, Italy, while visiting a friend, on
the same day that his final volume of verse, Asolando: Fancies
and Facts, was published, in 1889.
Robert Browning
https://poets.org/poet/robert-browning
setting and background
Alfonso II d’Este,
Duke of Ferrara
❑ The setting of "My Last Duchess” is the palace of the Duke of
Ferrara on a day in October 1564. Ferrara, a city in northern Italy,
was the seat of an important principality ruled by the House of
Este from 1208 to 1598. The Este family made Ferrara an
important centre of arts and learning, supporting the work of
such painters as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
❑ Historians believe that in Browning’s poem, the Duke of Ferrara is
modeled after Alfonso II, the fifth and last duke of the principality,
who ruled Ferrara from 1559 to 1597 but in three marriages
fathered no heir to succeed him. The deceased duchess in the
poem was his first wife, Lucrezia de Medici, a daughter of
Cosimo de Medici (1519-1574).
setting and background
❑ The Duke married his first wife, Lucrezia,
when she was only 14, and he was 25. It
is believed that he married her for her
dowry. She died when she was only 17,
allegedly after being poisoned by the
Duke, who married the daughter of
Emperor Ferdinand I soon after.
Alfonso II d’Este,
Alfonso II d’Este,
Duke of Ferrara
Duke of Ferrara
Lucrezia de Medici
characters
❑ Speaker (or Narrator): The speaker is the Duke of Ferrara. The poem
reveals him as a proud, possessive, and selfish man and a lover of the
arts. He regarded his late wife as a mere object who existed only to
please him and do his bidding. He likes the portrait of her (the subject
of his monologue) because, unlike the duchess when she was alive, it
reveals only her beauty and none of the qualities in her that annoyed
the duke when she was alive. Morever, he now has complete control of
the portrait as a pretty art object that he can show to visitors.
Alfonso II d’Este,
Duke of Ferrara
The poem can thus also be read as a commentary on the values
of Renaissance society, which held onto the notion of the ‘ideal
man’, such as the duke, who collected works of art – considered
to be the mark of an erudite and civilised gentleman. Browning’s
version reveals the duke as anything but “ideal”.
characters
cont.
❑ Duchess: The late wife of the duke. The duke says the duchess
enjoyed the company of other men and implies that she was
unfaithful. Whether his accusation is a fabrication is uncertain.
The real duchess died under suspicious circumstances on April
21, 1561, just two years after he married her. She may have been
poisoned.
❑ Emissary of the Count of Tyrol: The emissary/ envoy (a
messenger or representative) has no speaking role; he simply
listens as the Duke of Ferrara tells him about the late Duchess of
Ferrara and the fresco of her. Historically, the emissary is
identified with Nikolaus Madruz, of Innsbruck, Austria.
❑ Count of Tyrol: The father of the duke's bride-to-be. The duke
mentions him in connection with a dowry the count is expected
to provide
Lucrezia de Medici
characters
cont.
❑ Daughter of the Count of Tyrol. The duke's bride-to-be is the
daughter of the count but appears to be modeled historically on
the count's niece, Barbara, daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I.
❑ Frà Pandolph: The duke mentions him as the artist who painted
the fresco. No one has identified a real-life counterpart on whom
he was based. He may have been a fictional creation of
Browning. Frà was a title of Italian friars of the Roman Catholic
Church.
❑ Claus of Innsbruck: The duke mentions him as the artist who
created "Neptune Taming a Sea-Horse." Like Pandolph, he may
have been a fictional creation.
Lucrezia de Medici
poem summary and commentary
❑ Upstairs at his palace in October of 1564, the Duke of Ferrara shows a
portrait of his late wife, who died in 1561, to a representative of the Count of
Tyrol, an Austrian nobleman. The duke plans to marry the count’s daughter
after he negotiates for a handsome dowry from the count.
❑ While discussing the portrait, the duke also discusses his relationship with
the late countess, revealing himself – probably unwittingly – as a
domineering husband who regarded his beautiful wife as a mere object, a
possession whose sole mission was to please him. His comments are
sometimes straightforward and frank and sometimes subtle and ambiguous.
Several remarks hint that he may have murdered his wife, just a teenager at
the time of her death two years after she married him, but the oblique and
roundabout language in which he couches these remarks falls short of an
open confession.
poem summary and commentary
cont.
❑ The duke tells the Austrian emissary that he admires the portrait of the
duchess but was exasperated with his wife while she was alive, for she
devoted as much attention to trivialities – and other men – as she did
to him. He even implies that she had affairs. In response to these
affairs, he says, “I gave commands; / “Then all [of her] smiles stopped
together.”
....... Does “commands” mean that he ordered someone to kill her?
....... Does it mean he reprimanded her?
....... Does it mean he ordered some other action?
❑ The poem does not provide enough information to answer these
questions. Nor does it provide enough information to determine
whether the duke is lying about his wife or exaggerating her faults.
Whatever the case, research into her life has resulted in speculation
that she was poisoned. Browning himself says the duke either ordered
her murder or sent her off to a convent.
poem summary and commentary
cont.
❑ That the duke regarded his wife as a mere object, a possession, is
clear. For example, in lines 2 and 3, while he and the emissary are
looking at the painting, he says, “I call that piece a wonder, now.”
“Piece” explicitly refers to the portrait but implicitly refers to the
duchess when she was alive. “Now” is a telling word in his statement:
It reveals that the duchess is a wonder in the portrait, because of the
charming pose she strikes, but implies that she was far less than a
wonder when she was alive.
❑ Of course, the engaging pose the duchess strikes is not the only
reason the duke prizes the portrait. He prizes it also because the
duchess is under his full control as an image on the wall. She cannot
play the coquette; she cannot protest or disobey his commands; she
cannot do anything except smile out at the duke and to anyone else
the duke allows to view the portrait.
poem summary and commentary
cont.
❑ As the duke and the emissary turn to go downstairs, the duke points
out another art object–a bronze art object showing Neptune taming a
sea horse. The emissary might well have wondered whether the duke
regarded himself as Neptune and the sea horse as the duchess.
❑ What the emissary plans to tell the count about the duke is open to
question. But in real life, the duke did marry the woman he discussed
with the emissary.
the portrait/ objectification and control
❑ The portrait of the late Duchess of Ferrara is a fresco, a type of work
painted in watercolors directly on a plaster wall. The portrait symbolises
the duke's possessive and controlling nature inasmuch as the duchess
has become an art object which he owns and controls.
❑ By retelling the duchess’s story in the form of a dramatic monologue
recited entirely by the duke, the poet is suggesting that the duchess is
objectified so much that she is literally and metaphorically voiceless – she
has no voice to tell her own story or to defend herself and her character.
❑ We do not hear the responses of the duke’s guest and can only infer his
reactions to the monologue from the duke’s responses to him, but he
seems to defer to his host’s authority; if he has suspicions about the
duchess’s death, he doesn’t appear to express them, which makes him
complicit in the duke’s deceit.
the portrait/ objectification and control
❑ The theme of objectification is extended by framing the poem so that it
begins and ends with the duke describing two works of art in his
collection: the painting of the duchess and a bronze statue of Neptune.
The subject of the statue is a patriarchal male figure, dominating the
natural world, which encourages the reader to interpret the duchess’s
story as a similar story of patriarchal values and male domination. This
comparison also suggests that the painting of the duchess has the same
value to the duke as the statue, even though the painting of a deceased
wife should have more sentimental value.
❑ A contemporary feminist reading of the poem argues that there is an
implicit threatened violence in the poem that reflects the divide between
the genders that still prevailed in Browning’s lifetime. This interpretation
emphasises that Victorian women were still objectified – they had few
rights and married women were legally controlled or “subsumed” by their
husbands until the law changed in 1882. This type of objectification could
be seen as an insidious form of domestic violence because it prevented
women from being independent and from leaving abusive relationships.
type of work: poem as dramatic monologue
❑ "My Last Duchess" is a poem in the form of a dramatic monologue. A
dramatic monologue presents a moment in which the main character of
the poem discusses a topic and, in so doing, also reveals his personal
feelings to a listener. Only the main character, called the speaker, talks–
hence the term monologue, meaning single (mono) speaker who
presents spoken or written discourse (logue).
❑ During his discourse, the speaker makes comments that reveal
information about his personality and psyche, knowingly or unknowingly.
The main focus of a dramatic monologue is this personal information, not
the topic which the speaker happens to be discussing.
meter and rhyme
❑ Meter "My Last Duchess" is in iambic pentameter (10 syllables, or five
feet, per line with five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables), as
lines 1 and 2 (less so) of the poem demonstrate.
That's MY | last DUCH | ess PAINT | ed ON | the WALL,
Look ING | as IF | she WERE | a LIVE | I CALL
❑ Rhyme: Heroic Couplets Line 1 rhymes with line 2, line 3 with 4, line 5
with 6, and so on. Pairs of rhyming lines are called couplets. When the
lines are written in iambic pentameter, as are the lines of "My Last
Duchess," the rhyming pairs are called heroic couplets.
structure and rhythm
❑ The structure of the poem, together with the use of iambic pentameter,
mimics the rhythm of speech. It comprises only one stanza of 56 lines.
❑ The lines of the poem ramble, with thoughts often introduced midsentence, in much the same way as ordinary speech does. A number of
lines are enjambed e.g. line 2 runs on into line 3 with no punctuation to
interrupt the flow of meaning, again, much as in a conversation.
❑ There are a number of interjections such as “I know not how” in line 32,
which are punctuated with dashes and ellipses, replicating the flow and
pattern of speech.
❑ The flow of the duke’s speech suggests his suaveness and sophistication
as he explains what he sees as his very reasonable objections to his
wife’s “misbehavior” (her flirtatiousness and insistence on treating others
as equals, and her apparent infidelity). It also underscores his
preoccupation with himself, his social status and his sense of superiority.
The use of the possessive adjective is
significant. Some modern critics have
suggested that this suggests the
possessive nature of the duke, and that
the poem is Browning’s critique not only
of the story that inspired the poem, but
also of the way women were treated in
Victorian England.
the title
My Last Duchess
Ferrara
Browning included this almost like a subheading in his original poem, but most
anthologies leave it out now. This is the name
of an Italian town and this is how historians
have made the link to Alonso II.
Ambiguous:
❑ he’s had a string of wives
❑ his wife is dead
the poem
diction indicates his wife as a wonder in the
painting but something less when she lived
This pronoun refers to an
object (compare it to
“She’s my last duchess”).
no differentiation
between person and
painting – objectification
This again blurs the
distinction between the
painting and the
woman it represents –
more objectification
5
fresco – a painting executed
on wet plaster
That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
more objectification. He refers to the
painting as “her”, again showing his
inability to distinguish between the
two
The painting is a
good one and the
duke is vulgarly
bragging (namedropping) here – he
mentions Frà
Pandolf by name,
and repeats it, so we
assume he was well
known.
Frà = monk/ religious figure. Translates as
“Brother”. This is important because it makes the
duke’s accusation that there was something going
on between his wife and the painter all the more
unlikely.
the poem
on purpose
People who see the
painting are so in
awe that they turn
to the duke but
then stop
themselves in time
from asking how
this expression
came to be on the
duchess’s face
10
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
This shows the controlling nature,
arrogance and self-importance of the
duke; he is the only person with the
power to draw aside the curtain that
reveals the painting of the duchess – not
everyone has the privilege of viewing it.
face
The duke is praising
the skill of the artist.
He likes the painting
but later reveals
that he did not like
the duchess herself.
durst = dared This interjection implies
that most of his guests are usually too
intimidated by him and his social status
to have the courage to ask him about the
reason for the duchess’s expression
you are not the first to ask
me this
15
the poem
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps
i.e. blush
We might see
this as an
endearing
naïvety, but he
sees it as a
blemish on her
character.
Note the good
example of
enjambment
here
Note how the duke’s comments begin
innocently but quickly turn sinister
the poem
cloak or cape
20
Frà Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle laps
Over my lady's wrist too much," or "Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat”; such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
The compliments of the painter were uttered out
of courtesy, and the duke alleges that the duchess
perceived them as more, hence her blush.
It’s worth reminding ourselves here that this was
a young girl, not yet an adult.
This interjection is manipulatively
dramatic. He is giving the impression that
he is trying to find the right words but
this is a carefully rehearsed speech
The irony of this
list is that it
indicates positive
qualities that will
more likely endear
the duchess to the
readers, rather
than make them
critical. The effect
is to highlight the
duke’s
irrationality.
25
the poem
For calling up that spot of joy. 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.
Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast,
it was all the same
i.e. she didn’t
prize one thing
more highly than
another
He now gives a list of examples
of all the things that she
responds to with equal
enthusiasm, beginning with his
“favour”
i.e. everything she
saw made her
happy, and she
looked at
everything
alliteration emphasises
the trivial nature/ lack
of substance of most of
the things that drew the
duchess’s admiration
The reference to the branch
of cherries is a double
entendre or double meaning,
the second of which has
sexual connotations. The
duke’s accusations are
becoming increasingly nasty
30
the poem
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
officious = intrusive,
meddlesome
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace―all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
He completes the list of examples of all the things that draw the same words of approval, or
blush, from the duchess. Instead of strengthening the duke’s argument, these lines weaken it
by suggesting that the Duchess was a kind, thoughtful and perhaps naïve person who
appreciated the small things in life. By contrast the duke shows himself to be, at the least,
narcissistic and jealous.
more evidence
that he is proud
and pretentious –
stooping is
beneath him, so
he refuses to
engage with the
duchess on this
pettiness
35
He accuses his late wife of being
flirtatious and perhaps even
promiscuous, even though so far
the only evidence he can
provide for this is the painting.
the poem
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,―good; but thanked
Somehow … I know not how … as if she ranked
My gift of a nine hundred years old name
With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
It becomes clear that the duchess’s true crime was not being
flirtatious and promiscuous, but treating the duke the same
way she treated everyone else. It offends the duke’s inflated
sense of his own importance when she ranks his “gift” of an
old and well-established name and title (he comes from an
old aristocratic family named Este) in the same category as
the gifts she receives from everyone else.
even if one possessed the
skill of public speaking …
even if one has the skill
of public speaking …
40
―which I have not―
Note the interjection in parenthesis. This is
false modesty: he is probably quite proud of his
skills and is extremely articulate and a skilled
manipulator. The iambic pentameter and
dramatic monologue form make this
parenthesis ironic
i.e. his flirtatious and
inappropriate wife
In speech―(which I have not)―to make your will
Diction in these lines
Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this
reveals his
paternalistic and
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
superior attitude: he
feels he has the right
Or there exceed the mark"―and if she let
to point out to the
duchess the flaws in
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
her that “disgust” him,
and to educate
(“lesson”) his wife, as
one would teach a
child, on where she is
going right or wrong.
But he never actually
confronts her
He expects that she will learn to think as he does – he will not permit any independent
thought or disagreement. Remember that Browning himself married Elizabeth Barrett,
who was, at the time, a more successful poet than he. The poet was not threatened by his
wife’s intellect or independence, neither did he expect her thoughts to mirror his – but
this relationship was unusual for Victorian England, suggesting again that this poem is
Browning’s critique of the treatment of women in the poet’s own time.
This word “stoop” has
already appeared (line
34). The repetition
further the entrenches
the pompousness and
pretentiousness of his
tone and demeanour.
His pride prevents him
from “stooping” to tell
the duchess that her
behaviour is
unacceptable to him.
45
truthfully; in truth
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
―E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Short, curt clauses introduce an even
more sinister tone. We assume that she
continued to be friendly to everyone she
met and instead of addressing this with
her, he “gave commands” – to kill her?
This increases
our sympathy
for the
duchess, who
seems to have
a genuinely
friendly and
happy
disposition,
making the
duke’s
expectation
that she smile
exclusively at
him, all the
more insecure,
irrational and
disturbing
Another short, curt clause with a sinister
tone. It is again not stated unequivocally
that he killed her
The juxtaposition of “As
if alive” with the
previous two sentences
hints very heavily of
foul play
50
the poem
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet
munificence =
generosity
The company below, then. I repeat,
We learn that one of
The Count your master's known munificence the guests waiting
downstairs is the
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
“Count” (believed to be
The duke’s quick switch to a new subject is even more
sinister. There is none of the reflective silence that
one might expect from a man who has lost his wife,
suggesting again that the duchess was simply another
possession, like her painting, but far more
troublesome. Or perhaps he has realised that he has
shared too much information?
Emperor Ferdinand I)
who is visiting to
dicsuss the duke’s
marriage proposal. He
doesn’t disguise his
financial interests in the
match and the dowry
involved … SEE NEXT SLIDE
FOLLOW THE BROWN HIGHLIGHTING FROM THE PREVIOUS SLIDE
The duke is prepared to guarantee that the Count, in his generosity,
will not refuse to honour the duke’s dowry request. The duke’s
undisguised financial interests further cement the reader’s
suspicions that the duke had his last wife murdered.
He back-pedals here,
saying that actually it’s
not the money, but the
“fair daughter’s self”
that is most important.
His diction suggests
that this wife will be
another possession, as
indicated by the
possessive adjective
“my” and the noun
“object” (objective i.e.
aim)
the poem
Interesting parallel to
the duke’s own
behaviour: taming a
sea-horse as the duke
tried to tame his wife
55
mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!
Here he points out another work of art in his collection: a statue of the Roman god
of the sea. As at the beginning of the dialogue, the duke explains the value of the
work and drops in the name of another famous artist – more vulgar bragging.
Beginning and ending the monologue like this emphasises his superficiality – seeing
no difference, in his mind, between these two artworks.