My last Duchess

• "That’s my last Duchess"

  • Possessive Pronoun: Duke objectifies his wife and views her as his possession.
  • Adjective ‘last’ foreshadows that whiles she was the most recent wife, she was not the first and will not be the only.
• "painted on the wall,"

  • He immortalises her by capturing her in artwork and pinning her to the wall.
  • He has complete control which fills him with pride.
  • He objectifies her - she is now merely a work of art.
• "Looking as if she were alive. "

  • Simile: immediately we are told that the Duchess is dead.
  • There is an ominous aura that chills the atmosphere.
• " I call That piece a wonder, now;"

  Adverb: reveals that he is able to appreciate her beauty after her death and after she has been cast in a painting.
• "Fra Pandolf’s hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands."
• "Will’t please you sit and look at her?"

  • Question: An odd request that makes the Duke feel powerful -He controls who looks at her now.
  • Instead of a lively and vivacious bride, the Duke has transformed her into an object intended for only silent beauty .
• 'I said “Fra Pandolf” by design,'
• 'For never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance,'

  • Adverb: The Duke is selective in who he lets see his prized possession -Ideas about control.
• 'The depth and passion of its earnest glance,'
• 'But to myself they turned (since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)'

  • Pronouns: only in her death does the Duke have complete control over his wife.
  • His jurisdiction over the curtain means that now, she can only smile for him and whomever he allows.
  • The Duke feels empowered by this veiling and unveiling (repetition of personal pronouns), but he doesn’t realise he has been forced to such a measure (irony).
• 'And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, How such a glance came there;'

  • The Duke relishes in the idea that people are afraid to ask him about his wife.
  • Suggests he is slightly unhinged and takes pleasure in being notorious and threatening.
  • This linsk to his social status, for he takes on a haughty and unapologetic persona.
• 'so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus.'
• 'Sir, ’twas not Her husband’s presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek;'

  • Duke is acting cavalier and nonchalant that he was not the only one to make his wife blush or smile.
  • He desperately tries to convey an air of indifference, however it is plain to see that he is wildly jealous and affected by her lack of preferential treatment.
• 'perhaps Fra Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle laps Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that'

  • The Duke wonders how the blush got into the Duchess’ cheek and imagines the scene between his wife and Fra Pandolf as fraught with inappropriate flirtation and playfulness.
  • This insight into the Duke’s thoughts emphasises his irrationality and insecurity - He sees the blushing as a decision and not as an involuntary reaction.
• 'dies along her throat.”'

  • Foreshadowing: the sinister tone resurfaces and the suspicious verb  hints at the likely cause of the Duchess’ death: The Duke.
• 'Such stuff Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough For calling up that spot of joy.'

  • Repetition: The Duke is fixated on his wife’s blushing and he cannot forget it.
  • There is an unhealthy obsession with this “spot of joy”.
  • He hints at the conflict and tension between them, for he reveals that her thinking was different to his.
• 'She had A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad, Too easily impressed;'

  • Conversational Tone & Caesura: The pauses represent the Duke reflecting on his Duchess’ inappropriate behaviour and yet he comes across as cavalier. However, there are undertones of bitterness and indignation.
  • It is clear that the Duke is putting on a facade.
  • The repetition of the adverb ‘too’ reveals that he found her blushing excessive and a mark of her intemperance, which he could not condone.
• 'she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere'

  • Duke is calmly outraged: the lines are riddled with contempt, scorn and disdain and yet he keeps his composure.
  • This could be the true power of the Duke – his self-control in THIS situation.
  • His resentment is left bubbling underneath the surface, never to be revealed because of the genial and polite image he wants to portray.
• 'Sir, ’twas all one!'

  • Exclamatory Sentence: Juxtaposition between the exuberant and jovial tone in which the Duke speaking, against how he really feels.
  • Deep down, he is hurt and angered, yet he is carrying it off as if it was trivial, even laughable.
  • Yet, no matter how much the Duke attempts to mask his pain, he has in fact spent his entire time talking about his wife’s behaviour.
• 'My favour at her breast, The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace—'

  • Listing: The Duke is incensed that such trivial and inconsequential events/things would cause the Duchess to smile the same way she did at him. He felt devalued and unappreciated.
  • Hints at the Duchess having flirtatious admirers who would bring her gifts, despite knowing she was married.
• " — all and each Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush, at least. "

  • The Duke cannot forgive or forget the blushing of his wife. He was desperately seeking special treatment from her and it was all in vain.
• She thanked men — good! but thanked Somehow— I know not how —"

  • Juxtaposition in tone conveyed by the explanation mark.
  • He deems her behaviour unacceptable and yet is speaking in an unaffected, even good-humoured manner.
  • The Duke is hinting at the Duchess’ promiscuity, However,he is as an unreliable source.
  • Caesura: The frequent breaks in the line reflect the Duke’s pauses to think; he is engrossed in telling his story.
• "as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift. "

  • Simile: The Duke expects and demands respect because of his social standing.
• "Who’d stoop to blame This sort of trifling?"

  • Irony: the Duke has been rambling about the Duchess’ behaviour for 33 lines and yet he tries to portray that he is unbothered.
  • The verb ‘stoop’ also that he feels like he is too superior to waste time reprimanding such silly behaviour, yet his prolonged speech has been focussed on just this.
  • The Duke is delusional and slightly unhinged.
• 'Even had you skill In speech—which I have not—to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say,'

  • He claims that he doesn’t have the verbal expertise to explain what he wants from her – but his skilful rhetoric in the rest of the poem suggests otherwise.
  • The Duke presents himself to have false modesty. Either he is a calculated liar, or he is lacking in self-awareness.
• '“Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark"'

  • Control: the Duke wants the Duchess to behave according to his standards.
  • Although he speaking quite casually, there are undertones of bitterness and animosity.
  • He keeps his true emotions controlled and safely beneath the surface.
• 'and if she let Herself be lessoned so,'

  • Her sees her as a stubborn child who must be taught a lesson but refuses to listen.
  • He feels as if she is choosing her behaviour .
• 'nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse— E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop. '
• 'Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile?'

  • Jealousy: The Duke thinks of kindness as less valuable if it isn’t selective; he wants her to save all her affection for him alone, as he feels entitled to preferential treatment.
• 'This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together.'

  • Corruption of Power: The Duke uses his social class/superior status in order to regain control of his wife and to cease feeling powerless.
  • However, he somehow maintains a nonchalant and cavalier tone, despite implying that he has had his wife killed.
  • He seems unstable and subltly sociopathic.
• 'There she stands As if alive.'

  • Reminder that the Duchess is dead.
  • There is a tinge of pride in the tone, as if it is an accomplishment to finally have control over her.
• 'Will’t please you rise?'

  • Imperative Sentence: The Duke has now had enough of his listening looking at his wife.
  • He is very much in control over the viewing of the painting.
• 'We’ll meet The company below, then.'
• 'I repeat, The Count your master’s known munificence Is ample warrant that no just pretense Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;'

  • The identity of the listener is finally revealed, as is the Duke’s true intentions.
  • He portrays himself to be opportunistic and avaricious, for he is aware that the Count is wealthy and has much to offer.
• 'Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed At starting, is my object.'

  • Objectification: The Duke sees his potential new wife just the same as the last: as an object. He has a habit of dehumanising the women in his life.
  • He is a victim of his social standing, as he expects women to be at his mercy.
• 'Nay, we’ll go Together down, sir.'

  • The envoy and the Duke are from two opposite ends of the social hierarchy, however the latter decides to defy the social norms.
  • He does this to feel in control of the situation – a feeling he has sorely missed.
  • On another level, it could be the devious character of the Duke resurfacing, showing himself to be genial and egalitarian in order to impress the Count and secure the new marriage. '
• 'Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!'


  • Symbolism: The painting is emblematic of the Duke's attempt to dominate his former duchess, as if she were an unruly animal.
  • The statue becomes a metaphor for the Duke's view of himself: a master of inferior subjects who will submit to his will.
• 'not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land or six-feet-under in desert sand,'

  • The violent parts of the compound adjectives, “stunned” and “smothered”, show how the place is affected by war.
  • The long line and the sibilance slow the pace and reflect the speaker’s lack of clear thought.
• 'but near to the knuckle, here and now,his bloody life in my bloody hands.'

  • Double meaning: The looter’s blood or the speaker is swearing in anger.
  • This could be a possible reference to Macbeth – after persuading her husband to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, wracked by the guilt, sleepwalks and tries desperately to wash the imaginary blood from her hands. This allusion hints that the speaker has been unbalanced/unhinged by his guilt, as Lady Macbeth was.
• but near to the knuckle, here and now,his bloody life in my bloody hands.'

  • Double meaning: The looter’s blood or the speaker is swearing in anger.
  • This could be a possible reference to Macbeth – after persuading her husband to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth, wracked by the guilt, sleepwalks and tries desperately to wash the imaginary blood from her hands.
  • This allusion hints that the speaker has been unbalanced/unhinged by his guilt, as Lady Macbeth was.