my last duchess

• the poem is about an Italian duke, who has supposedly killed his first wife and is not planning another wedding to another woman and he displays a painting done of his dead wife in his house
• my last duchess was set in another era and country, but contains a political message and a criticism of society and changing the setting of the poem helped to disguise the criticism and makes the readers more open to accepting the message
• this makes his subverted message more convincing and displays the cyclic way history finds itself repeating and this would have arguably protected browning from the repercussions of criticising contemporary society which then ensures he will still maintain a good readership upon publication
• contextually this poem is set with a victorian view of woman where there only role is to be domestic only
• browning was born in London, yet spent most of his life in Italy and the Italian duke used in the poem was based in duke if Ferrara (Alfonso II) and he is widely considered to be the inspiration for the poem as the poem set in Ferrara and Browning was fascinated and obsessed with the story of his life, further Alfonzo II's first wife died under suspicious circumstances, and the Duke was believed to have been a murder
• the poem was written during the industrial revolution, when society was starting to see social mobility in terms of class as well as gender, as women starting to demand equality and saw the beginning of the suffrage movement
• • beforehand, views of women were very backwards and women would become property of their husbands upon marriage, losing right to all property and possessions
  • they also ha no legal rights / no access to divorce, and would be married off by brothers and fathers as they were seen as financial burden and as incapable of 'rational thought'
• • these patriarchal views are shown in the poem in the line ' i choose never to stoop ' which suggests the speaker thinks there is no point arguing with a women because they wont ever come to understand - the women's role was firmly situated in the domestic sphere
• there was also a very high focus on morality, manners and modesty in the victorian era, especially seeing as a large majority of society identified as christians
• • sex was taboo, especially female sexuality, and the only way for a woman to gain status/influence was through her husband
  • this is also shown in the poem through the line ' my gift of a nine-hundred year old name', which suggests the Duchess only attains status though his family name, and relates to the idea that marriage is a transition to ownership
• the poem is set in a time and a place (the Italian resistance) when art was heavily valued within society, as Browning was interested in this time period and results in the focus of the poem being the Duke's artwork ; specifically the portrait he had made of his, now dead, first wife
• the conflict within the poem is subtle but displays itself in the power the Duke has over the Duchess' life, there is also a conflict between how the Duke presents himself to the outside world versus his Duke's true character
• conflict arose when the Duke realised he couldn't control his wife, and he retaliated by killer her, which is an abuse of his power and control
• 'thats my last Duchess painted on the wall' - the reader's interest invoked from 'my last Duchess' ,because it raises questions such as : why is it his 'last Duchess'? is she dead? if so, how did she die?, further the speaker of Duke establishes control from the very start, from the possessive pronoun 'my'
• 'looking as if she were alive' - the line is ominous as it suggests the Duke viewing the subject of his dead wife as a piece of art rather than sentimentally as his wife, immediately suggesting she was only ever a possession to him
• 'will't please you sit and look at her?' - the Duke forces his visitor to sit down with the rhetorical question, which implied that the Duke is in sole control of who sees her, further the opening immediately sets up a sinister tone for the piece, as the phrase 'as if she were alive' shows that the Duchess has died
• 'Frà Pandolf by design' - the Duke is emphasising and boasting about his wealth, with reference the famous artists that painted for him - 'Fra Pandolf' / 'Claus of Innsbruck' to demonstrate his influence and wealth
• 'if they durst' - shows he has power over others and people are scared of him, so as a consequence wouldn't dare ask him about the painting
• 'her husband's presence only, called that spot // of joy into the Duchess' cheek' - unreasonable to expect her to only gain joy from her husband and he expects to be her entire life and purpose in life and her life has the aim of pleasing and being pleased by him this is known as complete domination of her life, it further also presents the Duke as paranoid
• 'Frà Pandolf' - Frà is the prefix for a monk this shows how much envy had corrupted the Duke, as he believes it is possible and his wife would flirt with a monk
• 'the bough of cherries some officious fool' - he wants his wealth and status to be more important and this shows his materialism - doesnt value natural beauty and natural pleasures of the earth and sees her liking other things as a criticism of himself which presents him as insecure, furthermore he expects her to reserve her joy and smiles for him alone and hurts his pride if he is not unique and is also reliant on controlling women to make himself feel powerful and desirable - giving a sense of underlying vulnerability
• ' my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name' - shows the Duke holds status and power within society, boasting about this but also a reflection about how the woman is now owned by her husband, as she has to take his name and then loses all legal rights
• 'who'd stoop to blame' - the line shows the Duke's male entitled pride : he wont lower himself to talk to his wife and confront her about what he fears, as it would show him as paranoid and weak, further it also suggests there's no point arguing with a women as she is so far below him, and incapable of rational thinking, and he shouldn't have to explain it to her - she should be meek, obedient and submissive
• ' i gave commands ; then all smiles stopped together' - euphemism for her murder and shows the power he has and can just kill her without consequences, but also shows such an overreaction and murder is a sign of lack of control
• 'notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse' - the metaphor of Neptune suggests he seems himself as god-like - men are gods that must tame their wives and this exposes the Duke's excessive hubris and pride of the Duke and shows that the Duke is extremely materialistic, as he condemns her finding nature beautiful but places a lot of value, in a statue ' thought a rarity ' , clearly he believes his status and wealth should be seen as more valuable than anything available to the common man
• ' for me!' - by ending the poem with the phrase 'for me', the impression he leaves the envoy and audience is that the Duke feels everything MUST be for him and him alone ; he desires the feeling of exclusive ownership
• the first person, present tense narrative gives the speaker a great deal of power over the text as he can control what he tells the reader and this reflects the power the Duke holds over women and his subjects, further this could be extended to the readers too and the first person narration also means the content could be biased, exaggerated or untrue
• the choice of this perspective shows the domineering presence of the Duke who dominates a conversation and wont let anyone else talk because he tends to take control of everything, further the dramatic monologue means readers are exclusively exposed to his perspective - thus the reader begins to understand the need to decipher what is and isn't true for themselves
• there is no female side to the story, and this mirrors how there was no female side to the narrative of Victorian society either and women had no rights to vote or hold power outside of the home so were politically silenced, further Browning's criticism of the Duke's abuse of power and inequality in who holds power
• the opening draws the attention of the reader from the title as it raises questions like 'why is it his last Duchess?' or ' is she dead?'
• the line ' i call that piece a wonder' is ominous as it suggests the Duke viewing the subject of his dead wife as a piece of art rather than sentimentally as his wife and this immediately suggests she was only ever a possession to him, further the speaker of the Duke establishes control from the very start, from the possessive pronoun 'my'
• the Duke forces his visitor to sit down with the rhetorical question ' will't please you sit and look at her?', which implies that the Duke is in sole control of who sees her and the opening immediately sets up a sinister tone for the piece, as the phrase ' as if she were alive' shows that the Duchess has died
• the meter reflects how the Duke holds traditional and conservative views of women, especially seeing as the poem is set in the past, also it demonstrates the Duke's sense of pride and superiority because the meter has a very tight control of rhythm and rhyme
• the use of only one single verse to structure the poem makes it feel overwhelming and tiring and this structure mirrors the Duke's power, suggesting his presence is overwhelming as he dominates the room and the poem
• • this power relates to how there is no importance placed on needing to cover up his mistreatment of past wife as he is so powerful it wont impact him
  • it makes it very obvious that it is only his view that is ever given in any situation or decision and that the woman is given no say or chance to defend herself
  • this domination relates to the context of the poem as both are set and written in a patriarchal society, by a man so women are only being viewed through the eyes and perspective of men
• the no-stanza structure of the piece also gives it a sense of being like a stream of consciousness of the Duke's unadulterated thoughts and feelings and the stream of consciousness suggests the speaker lacks censorship, thus demonstrating a lack of control over himself
• Browning's use of enjambment allows the poem to flow and seem more like a natural conversation and this natural narration is reinforced by the fact that the rhyming couplets aren't obvious, also it presents him as weak and unbalanced as he is getting carried away and rambling
• the lack of control over what he says and how he continues to get sidetracked is shown by parentheses and dashes such as in the line ' -how shall i say?', this punctuation choice works to make the poem conversational and demonstrates his lack of ' skill in speech' , further it implies that he is overcome by emotion and anger - he has control/power over himself but yet not over others
• Browning's use of caesura shows his speech as poorly planned or formed as he keeps interrupting himself, and makes the poem appear again as rambling and breaks up rhythm, so that it is not pleasant to listen to, as the reader gets fed up of his voice and narrative, which negatively shows his power and control, and it can be seen as a sign of too much pride (seven deadly sin) and self-obsession
• the language used in the poem is simple, demonstrated through the lines ' skills in speech' and ' which i have not' and this works to make it seem like a normal conversation, not decorated or rich imagery - the Duke is wanting to give a clear message about not challenging his power