Summary of the poem my last duchess by robert browning. POETRY blog.sigma-systems.com 2022-12-21
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Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue spoken by the Duke of Ferrara, who is looking to marry a new woman and has come to negotiate the terms of the marriage with the representative of the woman's family. As he talks to the representative, the Duke reveals his true nature and the disturbing circumstances surrounding the death of his previous wife, the Duchess.
The poem begins with the Duke speaking about his collection of art and how he is proud to show it off to visitors. He then introduces the portrait of his last Duchess, which he keeps on display in his home. The Duke speaks about the portrait with pride and admiration, describing the Duchess's beauty and the way she looked in the painting. However, as he continues to speak about the Duchess, it becomes clear that he was not happy with her and that he had a possessive and controlling attitude towards her.
The Duke reveals that the Duchess had a habit of smiling and showing her kindness to everyone she met, and this made him jealous. He admits that he gave her "commands" and expected her to obey him, but she did not always do as he wanted. The Duke then implies that he had the Duchess killed because she was not behaving the way he wanted her to, saying that "Fra Pandolf" (the painter of the portrait) found a way to "tremble" the Duchess's smile so that it would never appear again.
Throughout the poem, the Duke shows no remorse for the Duchess's death and only speaks about her in terms of his own feelings and desires. He is more concerned with the appearance of his next wife and the need for her to be obedient and submissive to him.
In conclusion, "My Last Duchess" is a chilling portrayal of a narcissistic and abusive man who is willing to go to great lengths to assert his control over those around him. The poem highlights the dangers of a toxic and possessive relationship and serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of allowing one's ego and pride to consume them.
Robert Browning’s Poetry “My Last Duchess” Summary & Analysis
The Duchess's Character What the painting captures appears to be a watered-down version of the Duchess's joyfulness. And yet he is impressively charming, both in his use of language and his affable address. Setting of the poem: The poem is set in the Italian town Ferrara during the Renaissance period. Summary This poem is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara, who lived in the 16th century. Instead, readers can imagine a specific setting and detect action and reaction based on the hints given within the verse.
Lucrezia would believe that such compliments were reason enough to be joyful. The portrait was painted by Fra Pandolf, a monk and painter whom the duke believes captured the singularity of the duchess's glance. This circumstance makes the picture of his personality even gloomier because along with narcissism and haughtiness, the Duke demonstrates his covetousness and greed, which are also the traits of the evil. The main character and speaker of the poem is Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara. So, he answers the emissary without a question being asked.
Robert Browning: Poems “My Last Duchess” Summary and Analysis
The duke then ends his story and asks the envoy to rise and accompany him back to the count, the father of the duke's impending bride and the envoy's employer. His cynical remarks on how his last Duchess would be blushing in reaction to the words almost make it certain that she has sinful intentions in her mind. She was always very easily impressed and like everything that met her gaze. But she came with a sizeable dowry , and the couple married in 1558. The poem looks like a piece of small-talk, but it is meant to reveal a story of oppression, jealousy, pride, corruption, murder and the greed for dowry.
It would be tempting to suggest Browning wants to paint him as a weasel, but knowing the poet's love of language, it's clear that he wants us to admire a character who can manipulate language so masterfully. She admired everything and her sight could derive happiness from everywhere. However, Alfonso expresses that it is too low to bend to her level and try to mend her ways even if it is possible. An emissary visits the recently widowed Duke and the dramatic monologue begins. And indeed, the question of money is revealed at the end in a way that colors the entire poem. The contrasting behaviours of Alfonso and his wife are shown by Browning through the words of the speaker.
Analysis of the Robert Browning Poem 'My Last Duchess'
He answers the question saying that it was not only his presence that rendered it. He presents himself as a lover of art and admires the work done by Fra Pandolf. Thus, here he makes an open confession to his audience that he is a murderer, whose unlimited thirst for authority over everything around him motivated him to slay his own wife as her joyful personality seemed too insubmissive and obstinate to him. The contrast between the whole narration of his, where he tries to speak about his wife in a positive and even pedestaling way, and these words, where he reveals his true inner thinking regarding his wife is remarkable. His early career began promisingly but was not a success. Browning reveals later in the poem that the emissary visits the Duke to talk about marriage proposals.
Instead, when she transgresses his sense of entitlement, he gives commands and she is dead. The brilliant conclusion by Robert Browning clears the fog about the true nature of the Duke. Perhaps it was something as simple as Fra Pandolf asking her to reveal her hand from beneath her mantle, or telling her that paint cannot do justice in reproducing her beautiful image. At the poem's opening, the duke has just pulled back a curtain to reveal to the envoy a portrait of his previous duchess. After all, the duke has no interest in talking to her himself, as we have learned! The Duke then sought the hand of Barbara , eighth daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary , who was also the sister of the Count of Tyrol , Ferdinand II. Objectively, it's easy to identify him as a monster, since he had his wife murdered for what comes across as fairly innocuous crimes. Madruz is presumably the silent listener in this poem.
Lines 35 — 43: This sort of trifling? Such way of thinking is narcissism that has been long shown as some of the most negative features of a human personality. For people confronted with an increasingly complex and anonymous modern world, this impulse comes naturally: to control would seem to be to conserve and stabilize. The duke seems controlled by certain forces: his own aristocratic bearing; his relationship to women; and lastly, this particular duchess who confounded him. Robert and Elizabeth Browning There is a possibility that the poem was somewhat inspired by the Brownings' own history. He speaks of it as of perfection, masterly crafted by an outstanding artisan. She had A heart—how shall I say? In fact, in societies which do injustice to women, men are usually corrupted, evil and unjust. When she defied her father's demands and married Robert Browning, Elizabeth became dead to her father and he never saw her again…unless, of course, he kept a picture of Elizabeth on his wall.
"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning: The Gloominess of the Character's Soul
The Duke then abandoned her for two years before she died on 21 st April 1561, at the age of 17. Buy Study Guide "My Last Duchess" is narrated by the duke of Ferrara to the envoy of his new intended bride. It is also interesting to note that the Duke chose a holy member of the church as part of his plan to capture and control his wife's image. The poem was originally published with a companion poem under the title "Italy and France," and both attempted to explore the ironies of aristocratic honor. No one will believe that a wife should look only at her husband, except in societies that believe that all women are naturally evil! A duke had murdered his seventeen-year-old wife after three years of marriage, and married another girl. Analysis of the Robert Browning's Poem 'My Last Duchess'. GradeSaver, 27 January 2013 Web.
Summary of My Last Duchess by Robert Browning: 2022
Another element of the aristocratic life that Browning approaches in the poem is that of repetition. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, In these lines, the Duke tells Madruz that there was no point in taking up the issue of her frivolous behaviour with Lucrezia. There's certainly no explicit evidence of this, but at the same time, it's plausible that a man as arrogant as the duke, especially one so equipped with the power of euphemism, would avoid spelling out his disgrace to a lowly envoy and instead would speak around the issue. Alfonso is the fifth Duke of Ferrara and he lived during the 16 th century. Thespeaker here is giving the emissary of the family of his prospective new wife a tour of the artworks in his home. The next moment, we find that he is making the man wait just to give another piece of boasting! In these latter considerations Browning prefigures writers like Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde.
