10
My Last Duchess (1842)
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Story
• The Duke proudly points out the portrait of the Duchess (his former wife) to a visitor.
• The Duke was angered by the Duchess’s behaviour – she was friendly towards everyone and the Duke was
annoyed that she treated him just like anyone else.
• He acted to stop the Duchess’s flirtatious behaviour and strongly hints that he had her murdered.
• The Duke and his guest walk away from the painting and begin to arrange the Duke’s next marriage.
Structure
• The poem begins with the Duke showing his painting to the envoy and proceeds to describe/talk about the
Duchess instead of just the art.
• The poem builds towards the confession, before the identity of the visitor is revealed and the Duke moves on to
speak about another artwork.
Language
• Power: The Duke felt the need to have power and control over the Duchess – he saw her as another of his
possessions, to be collected and admired, just like his expensive artworks. The Duke enjoys the control he has
over the painting. He didn’t have this power over the Duchess when she was alive.
• Dramatic Irony: The things the Duke says about the Duchess seem quite innocent, but they often have more
sinister meanings for the reader. There’s a gap between what the Duke tells his listener, and what the poet allows
us to read between the lines.
• Pride: The Duke is very proud of his possessions and his status – he cares about how others see him.
• Jealousy: He couldn’t stand the way the Duchess treated him the same as everyone else.
Form
• The poem is a dramatic monologue, written in iambic pentameter. This reinforces the impression that the Duke
is in conversation with his visitor.
• The enjambment and caesura could represent the Duke’s frustration, or suggest that he gets carried away
easily or create an illusion of natural speech.
• The regular metre and rhyming couplets suggest an underlying control and mask the enjambment and
caesura, illustrating the Duke’s controlling and manipulative nature.
My Last Duchess (1842)
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Story
• The Duke proudly points out the portrait of the Duchess (his former wife) to a visitor.
• The Duke was angered by the Duchess’s behaviour – she was friendly towards everyone and the Duke was
annoyed that she treated him just like anyone else.
• He acted to stop the Duchess’s flirtatious behaviour and strongly hints that he had her murdered.
• The Duke and his guest walk away from the painting and begin to arrange the Duke’s next marriage.
Structure
• The poem begins with the Duke showing his painting to the envoy and proceeds to describe/talk about the
Duchess instead of just the art.
• The poem builds towards the confession, before the identity of the visitor is revealed and the Duke moves on to
speak about another artwork.
Language
• Power: The Duke felt the need to have power and control over the Duchess – he saw her as another of his
possessions, to be collected and admired, just like his expensive artworks. The Duke enjoys the control he has
over the painting. He didn’t have this power over the Duchess when she was alive.
• Dramatic Irony: The things the Duke says about the Duchess seem quite innocent, but they often have more
sinister meanings for the reader. There’s a gap between what the Duke tells his listener, and what the poet allows
us to read between the lines.
• Pride: The Duke is very proud of his possessions and his status – he cares about how others see him.
• Jealousy: He couldn’t stand the way the Duchess treated him the same as everyone else.
Form
• The poem is a dramatic monologue, written in iambic pentameter. This reinforces the impression that the Duke
is in conversation with his visitor.
• The enjambment and caesura could represent the Duke’s frustration, or suggest that he gets carried away
easily or create an illusion of natural speech.
• The regular metre and rhyming couplets suggest an underlying control and mask the enjambment and
caesura, illustrating the Duke’s controlling and manipulative nature.
