My Last Duchess

"My Last Duchess" deals with the age-old theme of appearance versus reality. The Duke thought that his late wife had everything he could possibly want in a woman. Young, pretty, attractive, and...

Power can be positional, personal, coercive, or persuasive. The power presented by the duke in "My Last Duchess" is positional and coercive. Positional power comes from the outside authority a...

Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" does not rely heavily on metaphors. It is rather a monologue delivered by the speaker describing a painting of his wife and his wife as a person when she was...

Tone reveals a poet's attitude toward their subject. In this poem the tone is darkly ironic. Browning uses the duke's own words to show that he is a disturbed individual who has committed an...

The Duke probably wants to do two things: show off his acquisitions (what he considers his late wife), considering he is especially proud of them. But more importantly, he wants to send a covert...

There are a couple of different types of irony at work in this poem. First, there is dramatic irony, which is created when the audience knows something that a character does not know. We can think...

In this poem, the duke addresses the servant of a man, a "Count," who has come to discuss the terms of a wedding to take place between the duke and the Count's daughter. The duke refers to the...

Here is another example of a metaphor in some lines from "My Last Duchess": Who'd stoop to blameThis sort of trifling? Even had you skillIn speech--(which I have not)--to make your willQuite clear...

Browning wanted to indicate that this room contained a number of works of art. It seems to be the Duke's private study or library. He has brought the visitor up here for a confidential discussion...

Through the use of symbols, the Duke reveals himself to be a man who desires total and complete power and submission from those around him. This desire for power and control is symbolized in the...

This is an excellent question, for the identity of speaker is central to understanding not only the relationship between the speaker and his wife, but also in better understanding his "last...

The line in question simply means that the Duke ordered his wife killed. Now he is looking for another wife, and the person he is speaking to in this dramatic monologue is a representative of the...

In the opening lines of “My Last Duchess,” the Duke of Ferrara is showing an emissary from another court a painting of his late wife, the eponymous duchess. The emissary has been sent to the Duke...

This is a very astute observation you have made. Let us remember that the dramatic monologue reveals the way in which the Duke tried to gain mastery over his last wife. His perceived inability to...

The so-called flaw the duke identified in his last duchess was her heart, which was "too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." He complains that she blushed no matter who complimented her, that...

In “My Last Duchess,” the Duke of Ferrara shows a visitor the portrait of his most recent wife, who is deceased. Although admiring how beautiful and lifelike the painted subject is, he recalls her...

There are several relationships in Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess."The relationship between the Duke and the Duchess, like that between the Duke and his art objects, is often described as that...

Fra Pandolf painted the deceased Duchess's portrait. He and the Duchess apparently got along well, as he was able to bring the color—a "blush"—to her cheeks. To most people, the ability of a...

The Duke is trying to convey to the listener, who has come to broker a new marriage for the Duke, that his deceased wife was disloyal to him. He blames her for not bestowing her love, affection,...

Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess” depicts a duke telling someone about his former wife. Presumably, the listener is a representative of a count, who is there to arrange a...

The revelation contained by these lines is that the duke’s “last duchess” is no longer alive and that he is responsible, in a very direct way, for her death. He claims that he “gave commands” and...

You have managed to select the heart of this poem, and some of the most disturbing lines ever written in literature, in my opinion. These lines tell us the fate of the poor last Duchess, and how...

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning comes from an actual historical incident. In the sixteenth century Italy, Duke Ferrara married fourteen year-old Lucrezia, who died within two years. The Duke...

The true significance of the title is only discovered at the end of the poem, when the dramatic monologue is placed into context and the reader realises who the duke is speaking to about his former...

The title of the poem is derived from the first sentence uttered by the Duke who is showing the painting to an important visitor. His way of describing his late wife characterizes him as...

In the poem, the duke was unhappy with his wife for a number of reasons. First of all, in lines 14–15, the duke says that his wife often blushed at others. Specifically, this "spot of joy" on her...

Browning's poem is narrated by a Duke and addressed to an envoy. In the poem, the Duke complains that his last Duchess did not respect him as much as he thinks she should have. He implies to the...

It occurs to me that there were several things the Duke could have done with his young wife if he decided he didn't want her. He was powerful enough to have gotten a divorce, even from the Catholic...

In the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning, the speaker makes clear that the Duchess he is speaking of was a rather fickle person in life—who was, in his view, "too easily impressed" and...

In these lines from "My Last Duchess," the Duke is speculating on why the Duchess blushed ("spot of joy") while the portrait was being painted. The Duke notes that the Duchess was too flirtatious...

Arguably, the greatest moment of dramatic irony in this poem occurs at the end, when the reader realizes that the person to whom the Duke is speaking has been sent to approve a marriage contract...

The Duke of Ferrara who narrates "My Last Duchess" is what Browning would consider a prototypical Renaissance Italian character. He may be based on Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October...

According to the article on "Historical Context" in the eNotes Study Guide: The incident the poem dramatizes comes from the life of Alfonso II, a nobleman of Spanish origin who was Duke of Ferrara...

Besides the fact that he has no apparent regard for human life or individuality, the Duke is a complete snob while the Duchess is not. This difference was the source of their biggest, and perhaps...

To his guest the duke, says, The Count your master's known munificence Is ample warrant that no just pretenseOf mine for dowry will be disallowed;Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowedAt...

The monologue by the Duke clearly shows him as a cold, selfish, arrrogant, and extremely proud man. His attitude towards women is that they are chattels, property. This, of course, is especially...

The duke keeps the painting of the duchess behind a curtain as a means of postmortem control. That is, he wants control over who gets to see her image. As the reader comes to realize, the duke did...

It is clear from the extract that the Duchess had no prejudice and that she treated everyone equally. She would compliment anyone and everyone she felt deserved praise for doing her a kindness. Her...

The poem "My Last Duchess" is an example of a dramatic monologue because it features an imagined or fictionalized speaker who addresses a silent listener. In addition, it provides real...

My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue. There's not as much symoblism in the poem as there is reading between the lines or inferences. As the Duke is speaking (he doesn't really repeat any...

The speaker in the poem "My Last Duchess" is presumably the Duke, her husband. Throughout the poem, he expresses his displeasure at the young lady's joy. She finds joy in things like a sunset...

In terms of a first person, second person, third person point of view, "My Last Duchess" is told from the first person perspective. This means that the speaker or narrator is also a character. This...

Of his last duchess, the duke was irritated that she had a heart which was "too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." He wanted his wife to appreciate him and the gifts he bestowed upon her more...

1. Your thesis statement would depend on your critical analysis: what do you consider the most important theme or point of the poem? Is it that the Duke was jealous of his wife for not liking him...

The Duke's motive for speaking the monologue titled "My Last Duchess" is ostensibly to show his visitor part of his art collection, but it is actually to negotiate the dowry he can expect to...

Browning's "My Last Duchess" is partly an important poem because of its unusual point of view. The poem is told using first person, which means that the readers should be able to closely access the...