My Last Duchess
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"My Last Duchess" is a poem by Robert Browning, frequently anthologized as an outstanding example of the dramatic monologue. It first appeared in 1842 in Browning's Dramatic Lyrics.
The poem is written in 28 rhymed couplets, iambic pentameter prevailing.
The poem begins with the line Ferrara:, indicating that the speaker is most likely Alfonso II, fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533-1598) who at the age of 25 married the 14-year-old Lucrezia de'Medici, the daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo. She was not well educated and her family's status was what we might term "nouveau riche", compared to the Este family, which we might call "old money". The Duke's remarks regarding his gift of a "nine-hundred-years-old name" clearly indicate that he considered her beneath him socially. She came, however, with a sizeable dowry. They married in 1558, and she died three years later, on April 21, 1561, at age 17. There was a strong suspicion of poisoning. The Duke then sought the hand of Barbara, eighth daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, and the niece of the Count of Tyrol. The count was in charge of arranging the marriage; the chief of his entourage, Nikolaus Mardruz, a native of Innsbruck, was his courier. Mardruz is presumably the silent listener in the poem.
The other characters named in the poem, painter Frà Pandolf and sculptor Claus of Innsbruck, are fictitious.
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The poem is set during the Italian Renaissance. The narrator (presumably the Duke of Ferrara) is giving a guest 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; he invites his guest to sit and look at the painting. As they look at the portrait of the late Duchess, the Duke describes her happy, cheerful nature, which 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." He now keeps her painting hidden behind a curtain that only he is allowed to draw back, so now she only smiles for him. 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 seahorse.
What exactly the "commands" were that the Duke gave is not explicitly stated. In an interview, Browning said, "I meant that the commands were that she should be put to death . . . Or he might have had her shut up in a convent." [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
[edit] Citations
- Friedland, Louis S. "Ferrara and My Last Duchess." Studies in Philology, 33 (1936): 656-84.
[edit] See also
- Psychopathy
- Alfonso I, Duke of Ferrara
[edit] External links
