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The speaker in the poem is the Duke of Ferrara. Browning appears to have modeled him afterAlfonso II
d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara, Italy. At the age of 25, he married. But his wife died suspiciously within
two years of their marriage.

In the poem the Duke is giving the emissary of the family of his prospective new wife a tour of the
artworks in his home. He draws a curtain to reveal a painting of a woman, explaining that it is a portrait
of his late wife. As they look at the portrait of the late Duchess, the Duke describes her happy, cheerful
and flirtatious nature, which had displeased him. He says, "She had a heart –how shall I say? –too soon
made glad..." He goes on to say that his complaint of her was that "'twas not her husband's presence
only" that made her happy. Eventually, "I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together." The Duke
then resumes an earlier conversation regarding wedding arrangements, and in passing points out
another work of art, a bronze statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse.

Characters of the Duke: cruel, jealous, selfish,possessive,cold,peremptory, autocratic,intolerant,

hypocritical,imperious, seeminglyproud of his art, having a strong mind of noble class.

Though there are few lines describing the duchess, these lines provide a glimpse of her characters.She is
innocent, kind, optimistic,mild-mannered, and grateful to life and people.

The Duke thinks that he is dignified, noble, elegant andan aristocrat having great passion for art, but the
duchess’s behavior is undignified and “trifling”. She always smiles toward others, blushes hearing praise
and admiration.

Robert Browning is an expert at talking with imaginary speakers, and he finds the dramatic monologue
to be the expressionform that best suited for his genius in analyzing unusual personalities. In Browning’s
hands, the dramatic monologue becamean instrument for revealing character in a dynamic context
ratherthan in a static one. What the Duke thinks about himself is quite different from what I think about
him. So is his opinion of the Duchess.

The poem is a pentameter constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of lines---heroic couplet except
last two lines. Browning uses enjambment to show the Duke’s wavering mentality. In the first sentence
of the poem the Duke talks about his dead wife peacefully. Idon’t think he feels sad. He is cold. The line
“since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you” manifests his jealousy and autocracy: only he can
put by the curtain; only he can appreciate this picture; only he can own his wife and his wife’s smile.From
what he says we can know that his wife is pretty and optimistic. But he cannot even accept such nice
personalities, which shows that he is intolerant.“Who’d stoop to blame This sort of trifling? Even had you
skill in speech…”he thinks himself is noble, eloquent and he disdains to rebuke his wife’s behavior. But he
finally makes an order to stop “trifling”behavior, which shows his arrogance, and hypocrisy. He is treating
the duchess as his personal property. He is selfish and self-centered.He wants an absolute control over
his wife. Isn’t he hypocritical and imperious? He is quite proud of his art collection and seems love art, as
he shows his guest around his collection. But from the last sentences, we can know that the Duke only
concerns for valuable articles, not for art’s sake. His attitude toward art is not
sincere. And the paint of his wife is not a painting in memory of her, but just one of the collections which
he can show to others.Just after talking about his late wife, the Duke then resumes an earlier
conversation regarding wedding arrangements, whichproves his ruthlessness and greed for money.
Maybe also he wants to indicate that he expects his new wife a “dignified” one, or else she may have the
same fate as the late Duchess.“his fair daughter…is my object.”here “object”is a pun: it means aims or
purpose, and physical object, something not alive.Female in the Duke’s eyes is materialized, just like the
paint, the dowry, the Neptune, the Taming a sea-horse.

As for the duchess, she is not trifling as the Duke thinks. The words from the painters “called that spot of
joy”. She is pure, innocent, and bashful. “she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went
everywhere.”“the dropping of the daylight in the West”, “ the bough of cherries”“the white mule she
rode with” make her blush. She loves nature and life. “not plainly set Herself wits to yours, forsooth, and
made excuse” she is mild-mannered.“she smiled, no doubt, Whene’erI passed her; but who passed
without Much the same smile?The Duchess smiles to everyone passing her without discrimination,
which shows her enthusiasm.

T he line“all smiles stopped together”may manifest the duchess’s death. Peoplebelieve that the duke has
killed the duchess. However, whenBrowning was asked about the final fate of the duchess, he firstly
said“yes, the demand is to kill the duchess.”After a while,he turned his answer into that “perhaps the
Duke will imprisonthe duchess in a convent.”T here is no need for Browning to tell us what on earth
happened to the Duchess, there is no right or the ultimate explanation existing but the readers’ self-
exploration. We can formulate a viable interpretation of the poem. As Browning once put it “The
creation of the poem is to reside the infinite into thefinite.”

Browning didn’t tell us what happened to the Duchess, but he did depict some characteristic of the
Italian Renaissance, though it was not purport to show the view of marriage or something else during
the Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance was the earliest manifestation of the general European
Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement that began in Italy during the 14th
century and lasted until the 16th century. In that period of time, magnificent art can be created, as in the
poem the paint of the Duchess, and Neptune.At that time, noble class like the Duke still exercised
absolute power. But the Duchess’s attitude towards the nobles reflects that she stands for the
democracy influenced by the Renaissance (against the capitalist class). It is worth mentioning the Dowry
Funds System. Dowry had social and symbolic function. The scale of dowry shown the identity and status
of the couple and the honor the bride’s family deserved.

Although in his early years, his works got few attentions, he had come to be regarded as one of the most
important poets of the Victorian period. In a Browning monologue, unlike a soliloquy, the meaning is not
what the speaker voluntarily reveals but what he inadvertently gives away, usually while rationalising
past actions or special pleading his case to a silent auditor.These monologues greatly influenced many
later poets, including T.S Eliot and Ezra Pound.

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I. 2. Re-state/parse the poem

This painting on the wall is my former wife’ portrait, it looks like if she were alive. Now I call it a miracle:
Fra Pandolf’s handwriting. After a day's work, the painting was completed. Would you like to sit down
and look at her? I say deliberately. Those who saw the face in the picture want to ask me about her
because they are curious. Only I can open the curtains. It seems that they want to ask me but not dare to
ask. People are curious about the expression

in my wife's eyes and you are not the first person to ask. Besides me, other people can see her smile. Fra
Pandolf’s word s“Her cloak covers up too much of ma lady’s wrist.”“the indistinct half redness on her
face that spreads down to he r throat” can cause that happy smile or blush to appear on the face of the
duchess. Such nonsensical talk was a compliment paid to her. It is easy to make her happy. She can be
moved easily. She like anything she saw, and like to look everywhere. It was all the same. The jewelry
which is given by me or a glimmer of sunset, or some obliging person or the white mule she rode with
round the garden, all these things can make her happy. She is thankful, but her gratitude let me down.
She considers the title of the Duchess of Ferrara which I gave her by marrying her as no better than a
simple gift given to her by someone of no importance. Who would lower oneself to find fault with this
kind of frivolous behavior? You are gifted with eloquence so that you can “In t his respect you don’t do
enough to please me and in that respect you go too far.” But I didn’t have that talent. And if she let
herself be admonished in this way, and did not argue with you. Even in that case it would mean that I
should be lowering my dignity, and I choose never to lower my dignity. No matter who pass by her, she
will smile. As the duchess began to show more affection to everybody, I ordered that she should be put
to death and she died. Now you can see portrait of the duchess on the wall. We shall meet the others
downstairs. I reiterate I am the famous and generous duke. The count will not refuse to allow his fair
claim for a dowry for the count’s daughter. I want to pursue beautiful young lady. I politely suggest that I
and you (the envoy) walk downstairs together abreast of each other (obviously he has insisted on the
duke’s precedence). Look at this. Neptune is taming a sea-horse. This is a precious collection. It is what
he made specially for me.

***

The Appreciation of My Last Duchess

Introduction

Robert Browning was one of the most sought-after literary figures of his day whose mastery of dramatic
verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the outstanding Victorian poets. As is typical of
Browning's poems, "My Last Duchess" is written as a dramatic monologue: one speaker relates the entire
poem as if to another person present with him. In this essay, I’d like to share my understanding an
appreciation of My Last Duchess.

The poem

My Last Duchess is written in iambic pentameter and abides by the pattern of the heroic couplet.This
poem is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara, who lived in the 16th
century.The Duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come
to negotiate the Duke’s marriage (he has recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful
family.As he shows the visitor through his palace,he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess,
apparently a young and lovely girl. The Duke begins reminiscing about the portrait sessions, then about
the Duchess herself. His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behavior: he claims she flirted
with everyone and did not appreciate his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name”As his monologue
continues,the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke in fact caused the Duchess’s
early demise: when her behavior escalated, “[he] gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together.”
Having made this disclosure,the Dukereturns to the business at hand: arranging for another
marriage,with another young girl.As the Duke and the emissary walk leave the painting behind, the
Duke points out other notable artworks in his collection.

As the poem progresses, the duke’s intentional or unintentional talking goes from the portrait of his last
duchess to the human faults of her beautiful person. It reveals bit by bit his arrogance, possessiveness
and cruelty. We (as readers) gather the truth about the death of the unfortunate wife. It is ironical that
the duke’s own defensive words should betray and condemn himself. The whole work then becomes an
interesting satire on the duke and his medieval mindset with full dramatic effects.

The main themes are power, influence, marriage, aristocracy and egoism. The arrogant, authoritarian
mindset of a proud Renaissance duke) and his treating of women as mere objects.

The form of My Last Duchess

A dramatic monologue is a piece of spoken verse that offers great insight into the feelings of the speaker,
a form invented and practiced principally by Robert Browning. Not to be confused with a soliloquy in a
play (which the character speaking speaks to themselves), dramatic monologues suggest an auditor or
auditors. They were favored by many poets in the Victorian period, in which a character in fiction or in
history delivers a speech explaining his or her feelings, actions, or motives. The monologue is usually
directed toward a silent audience, with the speaker's words influenced by a critical situation.

1. A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem,
in a specific situation at a critical moment .

2. This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know of the auditors'
presence, and what they say and do, only from

clues in the discourse of the single speaker.

3. The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of wh-at the lyric speaker says is to
reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and character.

Conclusion:

There’s no doubt that “My Last Duchess” is one of the greatest masterpieces throughout the world,not
only because it is a poem that best exemplifies Robert Browning’s use of the dramatic monologue,but
also it combined writing skill with characteristics of character perfectly.

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Appreciation of My Last Duchess

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially
dramatic monologues, made him one of the outstanding Victorian poets.

As is typical of Browning's poems, "My Last Duchess" is written as a dramatic monologue: one speaker
relates the entire poem as if to another person present with him. It uses iambic pentameter of AABB
couplets as the poet reveals the story of the Duke's late wife through conversation.

The style and structure of this poem play a significant role in the effect of the poem. This format suits
this poem particularly well because the narrator, taken to be the Duke of Ferrara, comes across as being
very controlling, proud, possessive and selfish, especially in conversation.

The language employed by the speaker implies someone speaking with pride over a possession, in this
case a piece of custom-made artwork. He takes care to emphasize the fact that it was painted by Fr
Pandolf, presumably a talented and experienced artist, based on the speaker's eagerness to drop his
name, reveal him to be vain and materialistic, and less concerned with the loss of his previous duchess.

When the Duchess was alive, the Duke could not control her smile and love for life and he considered
her unfaithful. From the narrator's indirect allusions to the death of his wife the reader might easily think
that the narrator committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. He couldn't control her life, so he lost
control of himself. His flowery speech confuses and disguises any possible motives, however, and the
mystery is left unsolved and the Duke remain unclear include his true character. Another ambiguous
quality about the Duke is his historical character. The poem clearly references the Duke of Ferrara whose
first wife died suspiciously within two years of their marriage. Although there are some lines are
presenting his best side, appear as a hurt and abused husband whose disrespectful wife left him no
alternative but to kill her.

However his appreciation of art reveals that he values things that he can control and is contrasted with
the images of nature that surround the duchess—the "daylight in the West.....the bough of cherries,"
and "the white mule," all natural objects that are associated with the duchess' happiness. These images
of nature are a sharp contrast to the artificial objects the duke values. His unhappiness over the duchess'
association with nature is revealed in the line "I know not how--as if she ranked my gift of a nine-
hundred-years-old-name with anybody's gift"(34). It is clear that the duke believes that his name,
something artificial, is of greater value than the natural objects that cause the duchess joy.

In describing the duchess, traits in the duchess that the duke perceives as unbecoming are, in fact,
aspects of her character that humanize her and render her more sympathetic to the reader. For instance,
the duke was outraged at the duchess' very outlook on life, "She had a heart - how shall I say? - too soon
made glad" (ll. 21-22). The duchess' ability to enjoy the simplest aspects of life, such as a bough of
cherries, her white mule, or the "dropping of daylight in the west," (ll. 26) angered the duke, or rather
filled him with resent. He felt that he should be the only one to cause her excitement or happiness, but
he failed to do so when the simplest gestures of kindness or things of beauty could.

Through the duke's criticism of the duchess' positive traits, the reader gains a further understanding of
his vainglorious character and, as Browning intended, that of the greedy, undeserving aristocracy.

At the end of the poem, the Duke resumes the conversation about dowry and points to another work of
art, a bronze statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse. I think Neptune symbolized the Duke himself, and
sea-horse just like his late wife, and actually he is giving warning to his second wife.

There’s no doubt that “My Last Duchess” is one of this one of the greatest masterpieces throughout the
world, not only because it is a poem that best exemplifies Robert Browning’s use of the dramatic
monologue, but also it combined writing skill with characteristics of character perfectly.

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The Portrait of the Duke in My Last Duchess

作者:张学敏

来源:《东方教育》2013 年第 09 期

【Abstract】My Last Duchess is one of best-known poems by Robert Browning. It has aroused
continuous interests among critics and scholars throughout the world since its publication. The study of
the novel from various perspectives has turned out to be profound and fruitful. This paper intends to
portray the negative Duke by close reading the poem.

【Key words】Duke,Duchess,trait,Robert Browning

My Last Duchess is one of better known poems by Robert Browning. From the title,the Duchess seems to
be concerned in the poem. But actually,the main purpose of the poet is to unmask a hypocrite Duke in
his true colors.

Obviously,the poem is a first person narrative of the Duke of Ferrara who is soon getting married. It is
easy to imagine the Duke is showing the envoy,who has come to negotiate the duke’s re-marriage(he
recently been widowed)to the daughter of another powerful family,around the gallery to impress him
deeply about his wonderful collection.

The Duchess is first introduced as a painting hanging in the Duke’s gallery. The very form in which we
meet her gives us some food for thought. As the Duke speaks of his last Duchess,in the beginning,he
sounds extremely compassionate and caring towards her. The Duke had an absolute love for his Duchess
as most husbands and wives do. He sounded so proud of her and the beauty that she posed. From the
first two lines,“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,looking as if she were alive. ” it is evident that
the title refers to a wall painting,and the readers immediately begin to suspect that a sight of regret that
raises the sympathy of the readers and makes them feel that he had lost his beloved wife and is very
upset about that. The Duke speaks highly of the portrait from which the readers can sense the beauty of
his last Duchess. Readers still memorize “the depth and passion of its earnest glance”,that spot of joy
into the Duchess’s cheek” and her “faint/half-flush that dies along her throat”,which “paint must never
hope to reproduce”. What an innocent and lovely girl! Unfortunately she lives a tragedy life.

Firstly,one trait of the Duke that was the most apparent was his possessiveness. In the title,the Duke
emphasized “my” to reveal the presence of the feeling of possessing the duchess and show that he
“owns” her. Indeed,throughout the poem,the pronoun “my” appears several times,stressing the Duke’s
possessive nature. The stress on “last” might infer that duc hesses,to him,come in sequence,like
collectibles that,if necessary,having become obsolescent,are to be replaced. The same possessive
attitude can be found in the poem is that he values his wife as highly as not only theThe same possessive
attitude can be found in the poem is that he values his wife as highly as not only the

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