My Last Duchess Analysis
My Last Duchess Analysis
“My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue written by Victorian poet Robert Browning in 1842. In the poem,
the Duke of Ferrara uses a painting of his former wife as a conversation piece. The Duke speaks about his
former wife's perceived inadequacies to a representative of the family of his bride-to-be, revealing his obsession
with controlling others in the process. Browning uses this compelling psychological portrait of a despicable
character to critique the objectification of women and abuses of power.
The Full Text of “My Last Duchess”
FERRARA
1That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
2Looking as if she were alive. I call
3That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands
4Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
5Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
6“Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read
7Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
8The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
9But to myself they turned (since none puts by
10The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
11And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
12How such a glance came there; so, not the first
13Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not
14Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
15Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek; perhaps
16Fra Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle laps
17Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint
18Must never hope to reproduce the faint
19Half-flush that dies along her throat.” Such stuff
20Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
21For calling up that spot of joy. She had
22A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,
23Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er
24She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
25Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
26The dropping of the daylight in the West,
27The bough of cherries some officious fool
28Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
29She rode with round the terrace—all and each
30Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
31Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked
32Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
33My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
34With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame
35This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
36In speech—which I have not—to make your will
37Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this
38Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
39Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let
40Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
41Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse—
42E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose
43Never to stoop. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
44Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
45Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
46Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
47As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet
48The company below, then. I repeat,
49The Count your master’s known munificence
50Is ample warrant that no just pretense
51Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
52Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
53At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
54Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
55Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
56Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!
The duke continues by saying that it wasn’t only his presence that brought that look into the
painted eyes of the duchess or the blush of happiness into her painted cheek; he suggests that
perhaps Fra Pandolf had happened to compliment her by saying "her shawl drapes over her wrist
too much" or "paint could never recreate the faint half-blush that’s fading on her throat." The
duke insists that the former duchess thought that polite comments like those were reason enough
to blush, and criticizes her, in a halting way, for being too easily made happy or impressed. He
also claims that she liked everything and everyone she saw, although his description suggests
that she was ogling everyone who crossed her path. The duke objects that, to his former duchess,
everything was the same and made her equally happy, whether it was a brooch or present from
him that she wore at her chest, the sun setting in the West, a branch of cherries which some
interfering person snapped off a tree in the orchard for her, or the white mule she rode on around
the terrace. He claims that she would say the same kind words or give the same blush in response
to all of them. The duke also objects to her manner of thanking men, although he struggles to
describe his concerns. Specifically, he complains that she values his pedigree and social position
(his 900-year-old name) as equally important to anyone else’s gifts to her.
The duke rhetorically asks whether anyone would actually lower themselves enough to argue
with someone about their behavior. The duke imagines a hypothetical situation in which he
would confront the former duchess: he says that even if he were good with words and were able
to clearly say, "This characteristic of yours disgusts me," or, "Here you did too little or too
much"—and if the former duchess had let herself be degraded by changing, instead of being
stubborn and making excuses— that even then the act of confronting her would be beneath him,
and he refuses to ever lower himself like that.
The duke then returns to his earlier refrain about his former wife’s indiscriminate happiness and
complains to his guest that, while the duchess did smile at him whenever they passed, she gave
everyone else the same smile as well. The duke explains that she began smiling at others even
more, so he gave orders and all her smiles stopped forever, presumably because he had her
killed. Now she only lives on in the painting.
The duke then asks the guest to stand up and to go with him to meet the rest of the guests
downstairs. He also says that the Count, revealed here as the guest's master and the father of the
duke's prospective bride-to-be, is so known for his generosity in matters of money that no
request the duke could make for a dowry could be turned down. The duke also adds quickly that
he has always insisted since the beginning of their discussions that the Count’s beautiful
daughter, and not the dowry, is his primary objective.
The duke ends his speech by demanding that he and the Count's emissary go downstairs together,
and on their way, he directs the emissary’s attention to a statue of the God Neptune taming a
seahorse, which is a rare work of art that Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze specifically for him.
1. The Painting-The painting of the former duchess is more than just a work of art. At first, it appears to be
a symbol of the duke’s status, since he displays it like a work in an art gallery. He has placed a chair in
front of it so that people can sit and admire it, and he brags about the fame and skill of the man who
painted it (Fra Pandolf). But once the duke tells his guest more about the former duchess, it becomes
clear that the painting is also a symbol of the objectification of women. Although the duke despised the
duchess as a wife because she smiled too much at others for his liking, he loves the painting of her.
Unlike his human being, the painting is something he can control. Indeed, he's placed a curtain in front
of the canvas so that now he gets to decide whom the painting smiles upon, and he has placed a chair in
front of it so he can control the movements of the people who look at her. The painting, then, is
essentially the objectified version of his former wife—a relic that aggrandizes the duke while reminding
him of his dominance over others.
2. The Statue of Neptune- Neptune is the Roman god of the sea, and the statue represents dominance. As
such, the statue perfectly reflects the duke’s opinion of himself: he sees himself as an all-powerful god
who tames and subdues everything around him, whether wives or prospective in-laws. What's more, the
statue is "a rarity," further implying how special and powerful the duke must be in order to be in
possession of it.
More specifically, the poem takes place in front of a large painting of the duke's wife, who is
presumably now deceased. The painting has not been placed haphazardly placed in the estate,
either: it has curtains around it and a seat in front of it. This arrangement allows the duke to
manipulate his guests into listening to his spiel about it.
Literary Context
Robert Browning, along with Alfred Tennyson and Augusta Webster, was one of the great Victorian innovators
of the dramatic monologue. Such monologues often reveal deep (and troubling) insight into their speakers,
typically without said speaker even realizing it. This is certainly the case with the duke of this poem, whose
complaints about his wife instead reveal his own deep character flaws. Browning repeatedly turned to the form
to explore the psychology of his characters, whether they were psychopaths and murders ("Porphyria's
Lover") or artists ("Andrea del Sarto").
"My Last Duchess" was first published in Dramatic Lyrics (1842), which was the first of Browning's several
volumes of dramatic monologues. Like several of his dramatic monologues and longer narrative poems,
Browning set "My Last Duchess" in Renaissance Italy, and although his speaker, the Duke of Ferrara is not an
artist himself (as are the speakers of "A Toccata of Galuppi's" or Sordello), he is a patron of the arts.
Although it did not become famous when it was originally published, the poem is now regularly printed in
anthologies and upheld as a prime example of the dramatic monologue. It has reappeared in countless
contemporary literary works, from the Margaret Atwood's story of the same title to Richard Howard's poem
"Nikolaus Mardruz to his Master Ferdinand, Count of Tyrol, 1565."
Historical Context
Browning wrote this poem during the Victorian Era, which encompassed the second half of the 19th century
during the reign of Queen Victoria in England. The Victorians were fascinated with the Italian Renaissance,
including its poetic forms, music, architecture, and culture. The Renaissance, which extended from roughly the
14th to the early 17th century, placed an emphasis on humanism, individualism, the arts, and science—all of
which particularly appealed to a Victorian society that was making scientific and artistic advances of its own.
The Renaissance also was a time when some elite and wealthy families served as patrons of artists, supporting
their favorites' artistic endeavors. In a way, the poem critiques such patrons as perhaps being more concerned
with the social clout conferred by being associated with certain artists than they were with the actual artwork
itself. In other words, it suggests that some patrons just wanted to seem cool and influential by supporting
artists, but didn't actually appreciate their art.
This poem focuses on a real historical patron of the arts—the Duke of Ferrara. Also known as Alfonso II d'Este,
the Duke of Ferrara was an actual historical figure who lived in Italy in the late 1500s. Like the speaker,
Alfonso II had multiple wives, the first of which died very young and after only a few years of marriage.
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