Introduction
“My Last Duchess” is a beautiful poem written by Robert Browning and it also reveals the poet’s style of using dramatic monologue in writing his poems. The sixteenth century Italian background of the story adds richness to the theme, as Italy was the centre of arts. The attention of the readers has been taken away by the sentiments emerging from the story of the poem, ignoring the greatness of the portrait of the Duchess as a great piece of art. Though it is true that the portrait exposes the selfishness and the sexual greed of the Duke, the basic quality of the story and the poem is in the great skill of the poet in capturing the wicked nature of the Duke through the portrait of the Duchess. This brief paper takes a critical look at the poem.
Main body
The place is the palace of the Duke of Ferrara in the year 1564. The speaker in the poem is the Duke. He is talking to a representative of the Count of Tyrol, who has come to negotiate with the Duke about his next marriage to a daughter of another great family. This gentleman is shown the portrait of his last duchess and the way he narrates his relationship with her is the focus of the poem. The Duke says that she was looking as if she were alive. He tells his visitor that “That depth and passion of its earnest glance, /But to myself they turned” (Duchess). His emphasis on “myself” exposes his possessive nature. Like the inquisitive visitor the reader becomes anxious to know the Duke’s involvement in shaping the fate of the Duchess. “She had/ A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad”, says the Duke. What then went wrong is the obvious doubt hovering over the readers’ (or the visitor’s) mind. The Duke explains it: “her looks went everywhere”, something which, as her husband, the Duke could not bear. The character of he Duke becomes clear as the poem moves. He is possessive. He looks at his wife as a mere object, and not as person or individual.
The intensive emotion of the Duke comes to light as he narrates the event further. He says, “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, / Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without/ Much the same smile? “ The poet brings out the wicked nature of the Duke very slowly through his own words. She gives him her hearty smile whenever he passes, but he cannot bear to see her smile thrown to every passerby. These words of the Duke carry the existing nature of the Italian lovers in the sixteenth century. It is difficult for a modern woman to accept these words of the Duke. “This grew I gave commands”, tells the Duke. Though it is not made explicit what command he gave, it is obvious that he killed her. It is shocking to hear the Duke casually telling his visitor that “There she stands/ As if alive. Will ‘t please you rise?” At last the Duke takes him downstairs to negotiate for his next wife: “Nay, we’ll go/ Together down, sir”.
Conclusion
Browning’s superb ability in blending sex, violence, and art in this small poem is excellent. The way it is presented, using his usual style of dramatic monologue is what makes the poem unique. The pressure the poem puts on the reader to hate the Duke for his domineering nature gets nullified by his love of art. That he caught the most emotional moment of his last Duchess in the form of an artistic portrait with the help of a painter is what softens the readers’ dislike towards him. In other words, Browning has succeeded in taking a touching historical event to transform it into a beautiful piece of art. It is the captured moment in art which is lasting becomes the message of the poem.
The gripping quality of the poem has been highly praised by the scholars.
References
Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess”.