Analysis of My Last Duchess

The Duke and the Duchess
Victoria Overton
Introduction to Literature
Dr. Elliott-White
June 4, 2012

The Duke and the Duchess
Murder, mystery and intrigue can all be used to describe Robert Browning 's poem, "My Last Duchess." From the speakers ' indirect allusions to the death of his wife the reader could easily think that the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. His elaborate speech confuses and disguises any possible motives, and the mystery is left unsolved. Even if he did not kill his wife, he certainly has something to hide. Based on the poem 's historical references, style and structure, the Duke 's controlling and jealous nature becomes evident.
The most noticeable of the speaker’s traits is the tone with which he speaks to the hypothetical character. It becomes apparent that the speaker is someone of considerable wealth and means as he describes to his companion a piece of artwork and how it came into his possession. “That’s my last duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands” (Clungston, 2010). The language used by the speaker implies someone speaking with pride over a possession, in this case a piece of artwork. He emphasizes the fact that it was painted by Fra Pandolf, a revered and talented artist, based on the speaker’s eagerness to drop his name. However, the way the Duke skims over the subject of the portrait shows some aspects of his character. It implies to the reader not only that he has lost a spouse but also that he is not particularly upset by this loss. He seems to be vain and materialistic, and unconcerned with the loss of his previous Duchess.
In describing the Duchess, the Duke further reveals his scrofulous character by contrasting it against her more admirable nature. Traits in the Duchess that the Duke perceives as unbecoming are, in fact, aspects of her character that make her human and render her more sympathetic to the reader. For instance, the Duke was outraged at the Duchess’ outlook on life saying, “She had a heart- how shall I say? - too soon be made glad” (Clungston, 2010). The Duchess’ ability to enjoy the simplest things in life such as a bough of cherries, her white mule, or the “dropping of the daylight in the west” (Clungston, 2010) angered the Duke, or rather filled him with resent. He felt that he should be the only one to cause her happiness, but he failed to do so when the smallest gestures of kindness or things of beauty could.
What outraged the Duke the most is that she showed others appreciation for their kindness in such a great way that it seemed to belittle his greatest gift: his last name. “She thanked men- good! But thanked somehow- I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name with anybody’s gift” (Clungston, 2010). This statement reveals more about the speaker than any of his previous statements. It becomes clear that he felt the Duchess should be indebted to him for the gift of his noble title, which seems to be the only gift he offered her. The speaker reveals most about himself toward the end of the poem when he relates to the reader how he lost his last duchess. He became so enraged over the Duchess’ ability to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, and that here lack of appreciation for his last name that he ordered her to be killed. It is now evident that the Duke was driven entirely by greed and ambition for power.
This poem is written as a dramatic monologue, which is a poem that is read as if on stage, talking to an audience or character in a play. This method of writing has been used because the poem wants to give only one character’s perspective, the Duke’s. By using this technique, the author is in a way silencing the antagonist, the Duchess, and becoming the protagonist. The rhyming scheme consists of rhyming couplets, which give the poem a sense of order, and make the speaker, the Duke in this case, seem well educated and in control of his emotions and actions.
After the Duke talks about his last Duchess he leaves the room to discuss his plans to marry someone else. The reader is left to wonder what will happen to his next Duchess. Perhaps if she is anything like the last and does not live up to his standards. Will she end up like the last one; just an object in his possession hidden behind a curtain?

References
Clungston, R.W. (2010). Journey into Literature. Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu
Hawlin, S. (2012). Rethinking “My Last Duchess”. Essays in Criticism. Vol. 62, Iss. 2; p. 139

References: Clungston, R.W. (2010). Journey into Literature. Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu Hawlin, S. (2012). Rethinking “My Last Duchess”. Essays in Criticism. Vol. 62, Iss. 2; p. 139