My Last Duchess
Before you read the discussion questions, you should have first done the
following:
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Read the poem
Write a brief immediate response; what is your first impression- the
‘essence’ of the poem
Paraphrase the poem
Now you are reading for a deeper analysis of the poem. First, some
background information:
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The title of the poem was originally “I. Italy” and it was a companion piece to “II. France”
under the general title “Italy and France”. It first appeared among the sixteen poems in
Dramatic Lyrics (November 1842) under this title. Browning changed the title when it
was included in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1849)
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The poem is an example of a dramatic monologue, which means it consists entirely of the
words of a single speaker (persona) who reveals in his speech his own nature and the
dramatic situation in which he finds himself. The dramatic monologue reveals its own
place and time, as it proceeds to uncover the psychology of the speaker at a significant
moment in his or her life.
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The form of the poem is iambic pentameter couplets.
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The speaker is the art-collecting Duke of Ferrara. Browning has made use of an actual
historical figure, Alphonso II E’Este, Duke of Ferrara (1533-97), whose family went back
650 years (he was the last of this family). The story goes that he married his first wife,
14-year-old Lucrezia and three days later left her for a two-year period. She died at 17 in
‘mysterious’ circumstances. Browning likely learned this story when traveling to France
and Italy in his early twenties.
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The place is the grand staircase in the ducal palace at Ferrara, in northern Italy.
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The time is the Italian Renaissance. Much of the great imaginative literature of the
nineteenth centure in some way involves a dream of a golden, glorious past or a utopian
future.
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Fra Pandolf is a painter not recorded in history, and would be a member of religious
orders.
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A mantle is a loose cloak without sleeves.
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The Count is presumably Ferdinand II, count of Tyrol, who led the negotiations for the
marriage of Alfonso II and Barbara of Australia.
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Neptune is the Roman god of the sea, whose chariot is often shown pulled by seahorses.
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Clause of Innsbruck is a painter not recorded historically, form an Italian city, renowned
for its sculpture, that Browning visited in 1838.
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
That's my last duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frā Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frā 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)
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
Frā 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
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 favor at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
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,
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
In speech which I have not to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this
"Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
"Or there exceed the mark" and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and make 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;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretense
Of 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!
1. To whom is the Duke speaking? How does Browning have the Duke
himself subtly reveal the location and general circumstances under which
he addresses the listener?
2. What qualities does the Duke reveal about himself as he discusses the
portrait? (Look up the words “disdainful”, “hubristic” and
“megalomaniacal”- are they appropriate?) Compare these revealed
qualities to the Duke’s perception of himself. How is this ironic?
Contradictory? Pathetic? How is the iambic pentameter form of the poem
appropriate given his personality?
3. The duke reveals himself to be a patron of the arts. What does he value
in art? How does this relate to his treatment of the Duchess? What does
his attitude reveal about his essential materialism, aristocratic hauteur,
and insecurity? How is the form chosen for the poem, a monologue,
appropriate for the Duke?
4. What, if anything, does Browning reveal about the envoy? Why does the
Duke seem to try to detain the envoy at the end of the poem? How is the
Duke’s taking the Count’s envoy into his confidence an example of
situational irony?
5. Precisely what about the duchess did the Duke dislike? What do we feel
about her? What do we think happened to the last duchess? What will
likely happen with the negotiations for the next one after this
conversation? Why might Browning have decided to change the name to
My Last Duchess?
6. How might we see the statue of Neptune as representing the Duke? as
representing his relationship with his last duchess?
7. Formulate a statement of theme or poetic intention; what truth(s) about
human nature does the poem communicate?