‘My Last Duchess’ is Robert Browning’s one of most famous poems. It is a dramatic monologue.
A dramatic monologue is a poem in which
the speaker, who is like a protagonist as we have in dramas, is placed in a
critical situation. The poet remains aloof (separated) from him. The speaker
reacts to the difficult situation and thus lays bare his soul. He reveals his
character to the readers or the audience. The presence of a listener or the
interlocutor is also felt and it makes the situation dramatically.
In this poem, the Duke of
Ferrara is the speaker, whose wife is no more now. He is a widower and wants to
marry the daughter of a neighbouring Count, from whom he also expects to
receive a rich dowry. The Count has sent a messenger (an envoy) to negotiate
with the Duke.
The Duke takes the
messenger to have a glimpse of his picture gallery. Actually, the Duke is the
product of the Renaissance period that originally began in Italy. He has
immense love for art.
In the whole poem, the
Duke keeps on speaking to the silent listener, and in this way, he reveals his
inner self. He is greedy, possessive, jealous, cruel, and despotic by nature,
though he loves art and beauty also. His speech also brings about the innocent
and simple nature of his previous wife, whom he killed by strangulating her
just because she did not follow his strict ‘code’ of conduct while behaving
with others.
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