My Last Duches

My last duchess The poem “my last duchess” by Robert browning, a 19th century English poet, is based on historic events in 15th century Ferrara (contemporary Italy). The speaker, is actually Alfonso the 2nd, who entertains in his house his future wife’s, from Tyrol (current Austria), negotiator (the servant). Alfonso married his late wife, Lucrezia from the Medici family, when she was only 14 years old. Unlike him, whose noble family origins dates back a centuries (“as if she ranked my gift of a nine hundred years old name”), the family of his former young wife just began to rise to power. Apparently, Lucrezia was a cheerful girl who loved the life (“she had a heart, how shell I say too soon may glad”). This caused quite dissatisfaction for the Ferrara duke, whose jealousy caused him commanding to cease that behavior (“I gave commands, Then all smiles stopped together”). His orders might shed some light over the suspicious, anyway, circumstances of Lucrezia’s death. During their meeting, the duchess shows his guest his house along with his art collection, while continues to inform him about his late wife (“There she stands as if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet the company below”). Those transitions can indicate the psychiatric unstable character of the duchess, which will be discussed later as a possible reason to hurt her, and speak so openly about it. And yet, remains the question: what is the duchess’s purpose of telling that strange and chilling story, which not necessary indicating the straight responsibility of the duke to his wife death, but certainly draws many question marks about his deeds? A possible answer could be found in a mental desire, which characterize many of us, to