My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is a poem where the Duke of Ferrara narrates about his last wife to an envoy. Through the narration, the readers get to know about the duke and his last duchess. The poem, which appears to be a dramatic monologue, gives an insight into the duke’s nature. The paper will closely analyze the duke’s character and how he justifies the killing of his wife. The paper will show that the murder of the duchess only highlights the most defining characteristic of the duke, which is his excessive demand for control.
The poem starts with the duke revealing the portrait of his last duchess to an envoy of a count, whose daughter the duke will marry. The duke believes that the portrait, which was painted by Fra Pandolf, captures the nature of his last duchess, particularly her glance. He insists that his late wife’s gaze was not only for her him, but also for strangers. The duke’s tone becomes harsher as he recollects his wife’s nature of how she was impressed by both human and the nature. The duke’s tone suggests that the he was insulted due to the duchess’ nature since “she ranked/ My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/ With anybody’s gift” (32-34). The duke got the duchess murdered due to jealousy and hatred for the duchess’ nature. The poem ends with the duke asking the envoy to rise and come back with him to the count. On his way, he shows the envoy a bronze statue of Neptune taming a sea horse, probably suggesting how his future wife should be.
He tells the envoy about his wife’s crimes and her flirtatious nature with strangers through his perspective. The duke justifies his action of getting the duchess murdered by saying that he wanted to save her glances only for himself. Moreover, the duke’s demand for control is also explicitly seen in the duke’s relationship with the envoy. The envoy, like the audience, is not given any chance to ask about the duchess and gets to know only what the duke tells him. The final imagery of Neptune taming a sea horse shows the type of man the duke is. The duke, like Neptune, wants to exercise command over all aspects of life, including his wives. It also shows that he considers women not only as animals, but also as objects.
Browning uses dramatic monologue to develop the character of the duke.” The monologue shows that the duke expects from his bride single-hearted, worshipful loyalty, and will tolerate no less. He tells the story of his last duchess as a subtle means of making this point” (Brown, O. Bailey, 774). Other critics have said that the duke’s dialogue with the envoy shows that he was looking for a handsome dowry rather than a subservient wife. However, the duke’s assurance that he is more interested in dowry than a wife is just a mere deception.
The duke’s monologue is presumably the most engaging element in the poem. He comes across as a monster, who got his wife killed out of sheer jealousy. He engages the reader with his usage of language and his affable speech and has a great sense of beauty and art. The duke uses euphemism in his language in order to avoid the truth. For example, the duke does not explicitly says that he got his wife murder, instead he says "I gave commands/ Then all smiles stopped together” (45-46).
The duke’s monologue also controls the way he portrays his dead wife. The duchess’ painting gives the duke a sense of ownership and control over his dead wife. The way he describes the duchess reveals that the duchess might have been flirtatious, but it does not show that she was ever unfaithful. It seems that the duchess’ unfaithfulness was that she could not raise him on an aristocrat's pedestal, and therefore, her demise was probably caused by her disregard for her social status.
Also, the duchess’ portrayal by the duke has a touch of narcissistic view of him. The duke considers everything as his possessions, including his dead wife. The duke is obsessed with himself and with his collection of beautiful things and people. He boasts about his possessions and famed creators, including the duchess’ painting by Fra Pandolf and the statue of Neptune "which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze" (56). His obsession with himself does not allow him to see beyond the duchess behavior and he shows no sign of remorse. The duke’s sense of control and ownership still continues even after the duchess’ death as she still remains his last duchess. The duke not only owns her through his memory, but also through her image.
Superficially, the duke in My Last Duchess appears to be a victim of infidelity and lack of respect; however, an analysis of the duke’s dialogues show that he misunderstood his wife and the alleged transgressions were misunderstood by a man with character flaws. “My Last Duchess shows us a typical Renaissance character typified by an unscrupulous and jealous Duke” (Gupta 33). It seems that his second marriage is only for money, and not for emotions. Browning reveals the duke’s true character through the use of dramatic irony and his dramatic monologue. It shows the wrongdoing of the duke and his desire to control everything around him. The duke’s desire to control his wife is similar to the way he treats the duchess’ painting. In the end, the poem reveals that the duke’s monologue was actually a warning to his wife-to-be’s keeper.
Works Cited
Loucks, F James. Robert Browning’s Poetry. Norton Critical Edition. New York. 2002
Brown E K, Bailey O J. Victorian Poetry. New York. 1962
Gupta, Arti. Robert Browning A Reassessment in the Light of Hindu Vision. Sarup & Sons. 2002
