Comment on the use of irony in the poem. Illustrate your answer with examples from the text.
Ans. Robert Browning has very beautifully used irony in the dramatic monologue My Last Duchess. The Duke’s ironical utterances (words) help the poet to make characterisation more lively and effective. At the explicit level, the Duke seems to appreciate the qualities of the Duchess, but internally, he is disapproving of them.
After describing the beautiful face of the
Duchess, he proceeds to speak on her simple heart, which easily impressed. He says She had/A
heart …too soon, made glad/Too easily impressed…
The Duke continues saying that she liked
everything and her eyes went everywhere. After all, she was a Duke’s wife and
she should have had control over her feelings. Here, the reader comes to know
how class conscious the Duke was –Actually, he was a jealous husband He was
unable to bear his wife’s looking at others and appreciating their small
courtesies. This is apparently (clearly) ironic and satirical as well. He is
unable to tolerate her straightforward behavior with others.
Finally, the Duke gets her precious wife
killed. See the cruel irony hidden in the lines: This grew and-I gave commands/
Then all smiles stopped together.
The Duke's hypocrisy and greed come
to the fore when he ironically hints at his intention of getting a huge dowry
from the Count in the marriage. He hints and indicates to the messenger very
cleverly that his sole purpose is to marry the Count's daughter. He adds
further that the Count is well known for his generous nature and so, he would
not mind his reasonable demand for dowry. Thus Robert Browning uses irony very
intelligently in character-building in his dramatic monologues.
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