My Last Duchess Harlotry Analysis

The poem “My Last Duchess” is a historical event that involves the Duke of Ferrara and Alfonso who lived in the 16th century. Robert Browning "My Last Duchess" presents a narrative about a recently widowed Duke who talks with an emissary had come to an arranged marriage with another lady from a powerful and wealthy family. In the perspective of Duke, power and wealth were integral in marriage and was determined to be married to a wealthy lady from a famous family. As the Duke orients the emissary through the palace, he stops and shows a portrait of the late Duchess who was a lovely and young girl. The Duke then begins by stating information about the picture and then to the Duchess. Duke claims that the Duchess flirted with everyone and did not appreciate the history of the family: “gift of a nine hundred years old name.”(33) However, when an individual continues to read the poem, it is evident that the Duke played an important role in killing the lady. Duke states that “he gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together”(45-46) he used these words to define the death of his beloved Duchess. The aim of the essay is to analyze literary devices that emphasize the content of the poem, which includes rhetorical questions, exclamation mark, and em dash.

He probably thinks it’s the Duchess own fault for her death because he was very annoyed with her attitude towards everything and couldn’t tell her. “Who’d stoop to blame this sort of trifling?” (Browning30) Even thought he is so bothered by her behavior he thinks he shouldn’t have to lower himself to talk to her about it. There was lack of communication in their marriage and he never expressed his feelings about his wives demeanor to her, due to his poor communication skills. As he stated: “Even had you skill In speech – (which I have not) – to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark" – and if she let Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop.” (Browning 40) In this the murderer arrogantly states what he wanted from her and how he had no “Skills in speech” in which to tell the Duchess but he clearly tells the envoy how he feels, so he is clearly lying to the

In My Last Duchess, Robert Browning uses voice to create a sinister tone by the use of words he chooses for the Duke of Ferrara to use in his dramatic monologue. The Duke is an arrogant, selfish man who loves the arts. He introduces his deceased wife as “That’s my last Duchess, painted on the wall,” he says as if he owned her. The Duke was not happy when she participated in things that that he did not provide her with, she didn’t bow down to his aristocratic ways and this displeased him to a great extent. Then nonchalantly, he tells the ambassador that “I gave commands, Then all smiles stopped together.’ This is the dukes sinister way of confessing he had her murdered.

the personality of his duchess, he is shown to be a heartless, arrogant man. His complete

Within My Last Duchess, the reader is introduced to the character of Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara. Throughout the poem, Alfonso is talking to an emissary about his late wife (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). He then goes on to discuss in detail about how his wife would flirt with every man she saw, “She had a heart- how shall I say? - Too soon may glad, too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). From this statement, it is made apparent that Alfonso and his previous wife didn’t have the greatest of relationships, this is further segmented when he goes on to say that she held no respect for the influence he bore, “She thanked men- good! But thanked somehow- I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift” (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). Just from these two excerpts alone, it could be assumed that Alfonso and the Duchess’

Browning closes My Last Duchess by establishing that envy can lead a person to commit extreme acts and hinder their- or someone else’s sanity. Browning uses characterization to exploit the character development of the duke and also enhance how envy can lead

“My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, depicts powerful husbands attempting to control the actions of their wives as they are free to do as they please. In contrast, women are expected to be faithful and attentive only to their husbands. The power and control of the Duke is conveyed by a painting of the Duchess. It belongs to the Duke and is referred to as “my last Duchess” (1). The use of “my” demonstrates the possessive nature of the Duke and his claim of the Duchess as his own personal possession, much like the painting itself. As the Duke persists on forcing domination upon the Duchess, he is greatly displeased to find that she treats and considers him as the same value as nearly any other man.

The Duke is going on and on and we only have one point of view. He is controlling what the audience perceive the characters as. Browning uses enjambment to make the rhyming couplets flow better in order to make the speech of the Duke more realistic. The easiness of the speech and the fact that it is flowing, shows that the Duke seems to have rehearsed everything that he is now saying to the agent. So he has had to think about what to say and wants to be able to manipulate the agent into taking his side and, indeed, wants to have control over the agent’s opinion of both him and his last Duchess. The duke's loss of control is also depicted through the rhythm of the poem. The enjambment in the poem reveals that the Duke is almost at ease with his wife's murder, because it is so flowing and he doesn’t get upset and almost doesn’t have to stop. Except for once; this is shown by the use of caesura, however as he only stutters once it seems as if he is just doing it for show. Near the end of the poem, the duke loses control. You can imagine the horrified agent rising to go and the duke's uneasiness as he loses control, and his desire to regain control of the situation as he says, ‘Nay we'll go down together, sir’ There is a caesura between ‘Nay’ and ‘we’ll’ which shows the Duke does not want to lose control but then has to pause as he thinks of a reasonable explanation for him saying ‘Nay’ to the agent leaving without him.

In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.

Written by Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” is a poem about an egocentric Duke who has a painting of his last wife upon the wall and is trying to impress an ambassador who is negotiating his next marriage. Although it is obvious that the Duke is trying to persuade this ambassador, however, this is where the first mystery is created. It is almost as if he is trying to persuade no one more than himself.

look at but he feels as if the Duchess takes him for granted and she

The irony in his tone is used primarily when the Duke postulates how his wife behaved around other men. His sarcastic, demeaning speech shines through when he states “she had a heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad” (21-22). Not only does this line deliver verbal irony, it also gives insight on the Duke’s perception of his wife. Though he has no concrete evidence for her “suspicious” behavior, he does not hesitate to passively critique her. Browning additionally develops this critical personality when the Duke fantasizes about the gifts his wife received from other men.

The speaker knows that some may have viewed her actions as being common “courtesy” (line 20); however, he believed she was “too easily impressed” (line 23). To extend the point further, the Duke was displeased by the fact that she “liked whate’er she looked on” (line 23-24). One of the Duchess’s activities that gave her immense amount of happiness is riding her “white mule” (line 28). The reader infers that the Duchess was young and callow; she appreciated the small things in life. The Duchess’s temperance was the root of most of the Duke’s anger toward the Duchess. The Duchess “thanked” (line 31) men which the Duke viewed as unnecessary. The Duke probably believed that some of her mannerisms didn’t match his mental prototype of how a Duchess should act. Furthermore, the Duke believed that the Duchess’s admiration for everything disrespected his gift of giving her his “nine-hundred-years-old name” (line 33) because he felt that he should come first above any and everybody. Ironically, the Duke disregards his previous statement about her disrespecting his family name by calling his previous statement a “sort of trifling” (line 35). Even though he expresses his anger about the Duchess, he tries to downplay his anger in response to her actions. The reader infers that he is trying to impress the person who is showing off his gallery to. As the Duke

The Duke in Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess begins to talk about his last wife and inadvertently exposes his domineering and obsessive nature towards his deceased spouse. The Duke reveals to the negotiator the Duke’s traits of possessiveness in his account of his late wife. For example, the Duke recounts how the Duchess reacted to his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33).

The dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess” was penned down by Robert Browning. In this poem, the narrator is the Duke of Ferrara, and the listener is the count’s agent, through whom the Duke is arranging the proposed marriage to a second duchess. The poem is ironical and reveals its rhetorical sense, gradually. In the later part of the poem, the Duke claims that he does not have a skill in speech, but his monologue is a masterpiece of subtle rhetoric. While supposedly entertaining the listener by showing his wife’s portrait, he clearly reveals his character. Through his formalized tone of rhyme, he reveals his egoistic and jealous attitude.