Robert Browning: My Last Duchess

Ø  Husband of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ø  Lived much of his life in Italy

Ø  Known for his psychological treatment of characters in his poems

Ø  Shifted to poetry because drama was not a favourable genre during his time

·       Browning himself described this poem as a “dramatic lyric”

·       Most likely based on the real-life story of Alfonso II d’Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533–1598), who, at the age of 25, married Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici, the 14-year-old daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo. [The Medici family was just rising to position then]

·       Nikolaus Madruz, of Innsbruck, Austria, who was sent by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I as a courier, is presumably the silent listener in the poem.

·       The duke’s bride-to-be is the daughter of the count but appears to be modeled historically on the count’s niece, Barbara. 

·       Set during the late Italian Renaissance

·       The portrait of the late Duchess of Ferrara is a fresco, a type of work in which colors are applied directly to a plaster wall. The portrait symbolizes the duke’s possessive and controlling nature since the duchess has become an art object which he owns and controls.

THAT’S my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
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)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; 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: perhaps
Frà 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 dies along her throat”: such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad.
Too easily impressed: she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favor 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 – all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men, – good! but thanked
Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech – (which I have not) – to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark” – and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, 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? This grew; I gave commands
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

AABBCC

A.    In the private art gallery of the Duke

2.     What is ironic about art in the poem?

A.    For the Duke art objects are instruments to own and control human beings even after death

3.     How can the Duke be best described?

A.    A psychopath

4.     “Looking as if she were alive”. What is the importance of the painting to the Duke?

A.     The speaker, a megalomanic and a person suffering from sexual jealousy still thinks to have the Duchess in his possession through a representation in a painting  [Note the word ‘My’ indicating possessiveness even in the title]

B.     He uses it to show off his power

C.    He uses it as a bargaining tool for his future matrimony

5.     How was the Duchess presented in the painting?

A.    Full-length [“there she stands,” “Looking as if she were alive.”]

6.     ‘Ferrara’ is the name of

A.    City in northern Italy, between Bologna and Padua, on a branch of the Po River.

7.     “Will’t please you sit and look at her?” Why does the Duke say so?

A.      To show his vanity and impress the envoy

8.     “Looking as if she were alive.” What does the line tell about the speaker indirectly?

A.      That the speaker is a psychopath who thinks to be in charge of life and death

9.     “…that spot/Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek”. “spot of joy” refers to

A.      The red spot on the cheek caused by a sudden flush of blood out of some delight feeling

10.   “A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad.” What was the problem of the Duke?

A.      The Duke is a megalomanic and distrusts every person and gets easily jealous.

11.     “officious fool” refers to a person

A.      Who does certain things when he is not wanted

12.    “a nine-hundred-years-old name” What does the speaker try to convey here?

A.      He tries to convey his aristocratic lineage

13.    “Who’d stoop to blame/This sort of trifling?” How is the envoy supposed to respond to such question?

A.      Stand silent and at best nod

14.   “In speech – (which I have not) – to make your will”. Is the Duke candid here?

A.      No. [That he is a trained speaker is evident from his rhetoric]

15.    “E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose/Never to stoop.” Is the Duke sincere in his words?

A.      He suffers from sexual jealousy and looks forward to improving his material property, and so sought an excuse to kill the Duchess.

16.   “Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without/Much the same smile?” The Duke here betrays that

A.      He suffered from sexual jealousy

17.    “…I gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together.” What is the most probable conclusion that can be drawn from these words?

A.      He killed her himself

B.      He divorced her

C.       He arranged for her death somehow

18.   “There she stands/As if alive.” What is the speaker’s attitude to the Duchess?

A.      Ironical

19.   “There she stands/As if alive.” What is ironic about the lines?

A.      The speaker is indirectly exposing himself while he thinks that he is convincing the listener [and the readers] about his decision

20.  “We’ll meet/The company below, then.” What is significant about the lines?

A.      The lines add a dramatic turn to the poem.

21.    “Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed/At starting, is my object.” What is remarkable about the lines?

A.      The lines betray his greed for dowry

22.   “Nay, we’ll go/Together down, sir.” Why does the Duke say so?

A.      Since he has indicated his objects in the marriage, he wants to go down now. [The Duke’s listener may be to trying to get away from him.]

23.   “Notice Neptune, though,/Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity.” How many art objects do you find in the poem?

A.      Two: the painting of the Duchess and the statue of Neptune”

24.  “Notice Neptune, though,/Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity” What kind of image is this?

A.      An image of exercising power [represented through the Duke, who seems to identify himself with Neptune]

25.   What is the Browningian import in the poem regarding the art object?

A.      Since Browning always gave supremacy to life over art, he illustrates, through the Duke, how some people can use art objects to hide the monster within. 

26.  Who was Neptune?

A.    Roman name for Poseidon, god of the sea in Greek mythology.