My Last Duchess – Robert Browning
In the dramatic monologue ‘My Last Duchess’, Robert Browning
clearly assumes the identity of the Duke of Ferrara and so speaks
in a voice which is not his own. I feel Browning has used the
device of the dramatic monologue and the adoption of the
character to reveal the selfish arrogance and the evil nature of the
Duke. By revealing this side of his character I believe that
Browning has influenced my sympathies for him.
In the poem the Duke of Ferrara is talking to an emissary from the
Count of Tyrol concerning a marriage proposal between the Duke
and the Count’s daughter. The Duke is trying to find his next
Duchess.
In the first lines of the poem the Duke states:
“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive…”
Here he is describing his previous wife as if she were a thing to be
looked at and not a person. This, for me, is reinforced by the fact
that he never mentions her name: he only refers to her as his
‘Duchess’ which implies that he felt as though she belonged to
him. This feeling is reiterated by Browning’s use of the possessive
pronoun ‘my’. The phrase “as if she were alive” implies that she is
now dead. At first I did not really think about how she could have
died, but later he states that:
“…I gave commands,
Then all smiles stopped together…”
Browning’s use of “commands” I believe stresses how much he
likes to be in control of everything and everyone. There is also a
subtle, sinister finality to the line that emphasises the sheer evil
harnessed within the Duke.
Having shown the emissary the painting the Duke points out that it
was:
“Fra Pandolph’ by design…”
In fact he mentions the artists name three times. The Duke is very
proud of the fact that ‘Fra Pandolph’ was the artist. I think that
perhaps he was more proud of this than he was of the actual
painting which shows what an arrogant man he is.
Interestingly, Browning returns to creating the impression that the
Duke really enjoys being in control when he describes to the
Count’s emissary how:
“…none puts by
The curtains I have drawn for you, but I”
Here the Duke is even controlling the emissary’s eyes because he
will not allow him to see the painting until he thinks he should.
Browning focuses my attention on this by ending the line with, ‘but
I’ which highlights that the Duke feels he is important. I think
Browning has used parenthesis to suggest that the Duke would
say this in a quieter, slightly pompous tone. In my opinion this just
goes to show how manipulative the Duke is. He wants to marry the
Count’s daughter and it is as if he remembers that he should be
making a good impression to the emissary who will report back to
the Count of Tyrol. This is highlighted later in the poem when the
Duke says:
“A heart – how long shall I say? – too soon made glad”
Again, the use of parenthesis, taken together with the rhetorical
question, makes the Duke appear as though he is not to blame: he
did not really know what to do about his wife. I believe that here
Browning is revealing the Duke’s true character because he then
tells the emissary that he chooses:
“Never to stoop…”
For me this sums up just how arrogant and selfish he is. It is as if
he could not let his wife know how he felt because he thought that
it would be a sign of failure. Although I find this very strange, it was
how Italian men acted in the 1530’s, when the poem is set. I have
to accept that men like the Duke arranged marriages to suit
themselves and so they thought it was acceptable to ‘own’ their
wives. I feel that Browning highlights this very subtly in the last
lines of the poem:
“…Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!”
Once again the Duke likes to feel in control because he commands
the emissary to look at or ‘Notice’ the statue of Neptune. The fact
that the statue portrays Neptune ‘taming a sea-horse’ is significant.
A sea-horse is a very fragile and beautiful animal and the Duchess
was a very fragile and beautiful woman. It is as if the Duke sees
himself as Neptune and he is taming his wife in the same way as
Neptune tamed the sea-horse. Again the Duke tries to impress the
emissary by mentioning the sculptor just as he had told him about
‘Fra Pandolph’ earlier. I found it interesting that Browning allows
the Duke to end with ‘for me!’ just as earlier he had ended a
comment ‘but I’. I believe that this once again stresses the fact that
the Duke thinks of himself as being the most important person. I
hope that he does not marry the Count’s daughter because she
could become another Duchess in the Duke’s gallery.
In conclusion, in the dramatic monologue ‘My Last Duchess’,
Robert Browning has clearly assumed the identity of the Duke of
Ferrara and so spoke in a voice which was not his own. In my
opinion, by doing this he has shown the Duke to be an arrogant,
selfish and rather evil man.