My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue written by a British poet and playwright by the name of Robert Browning. He is one of the most famous Victorian poets. A Victorian poet is one who wrote literature in the time when Queen Victorian ruled which was from 1837-1901. While growing up Robert Browning attended many privet schools, but ended up hating school, and finished his schooling through a personal tutor. His College career only lasted one year, and then he decided to grow up. Marriage was next for this poet, and his wife was Elizabeth Barrett who was also a Victorian poet. Elizabeth was so famous that she influenced many people, one of which was Emily Dickinson. Together Robert and Elizabeth had one son whom they called Robert Wiedmann Barrett Browning. Elizabeth died a few years later. Robert Browning was not famous during the time that Elizabeth was alive, he was just known and being Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. Finally he started to make some money off of his poetry and now is known all ov
er the literature world as himself, not just Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. He is mostly known for two things, Men and Women, and Dramatis Personae.
This specific dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess, first appears in his Dramatic Lyrics along with his most famous poem of all, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The beginning of My Last Duchess starts with a person talking to a silent listener. The word Ferrara precedes the monologue which indicates that Alfonso II the fifth Duke of Ferrara is probably the narrator. In Real life Alfonso II was married to Lucrezia de Medici who in their terms was from “new money.” He hated this because in his mind his family had been around and respected for hundreds of years, “old money,” so obviously he was better than her. Alfonso II only married her because she came with a huge dowry. Lucerzia died very mysteriously, and many people thought it was a murder. Alfonso II then remarried to a well known lady who was from an “old money” family. The silent listener in the monologue is thought to be this new bride’s uncle’s chief of entourage who was in charge of arranging the marriage.
The narrator in the monologue mentions first a personal belonging, the painting on the wall. He then goes on to talk about the women in the painting who was his last wife that is dead now. He also makes it very clear who painted it for him, Fra’ Pandolf (fictional character). Just by how the monologue starts we realize that this man is a very self praising person talking only about his belongings and the things he can control. The narrator goes on to talk about that little sparkle in her eye and the slight flush look that she has in the painting. The feeling the speaker gives off seems to be very angry when he says that it was not her husband who gave her this glow or sparkle, but it was everyone she passed on a daily basis. Obviously she was made to smile to easily, because she would smile at even the lowest of pheasants. This is not acceptable, because, didn’t she know that who he was? He has a name that is nine hundred years old, and she treated him the same as she treated the pheasants. Finally he told her to stop, but she kept doing it, because she probably didn’t even know what she was doing. He got so mad, at the fact that he couldn’t control her and her actions that he gave a command and all the smiling stopped, which means that he had her killed so that he would never be treated on the same level as the lowly pheasants again. Alfonso II told the listener this story, either to warn the listener of how his new wife should act, or to brag about how much control and power he had. The very end of the monologue he draws attention to another personal belonging, a sculpture, which shows that he is wrapped up in all things that he can own or control.
er the literature world as himself, not just Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. He is mostly known for two things, Men and Women, and Dramatis Personae.This specific dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess, first appears in his Dramatic Lyrics along with his most famous poem of all, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The beginning of My Last Duchess starts with a person talking to a silent listener. The word Ferrara precedes the monologue which indicates that Alfonso II the fifth Duke of Ferrara is probably the narrator. In Real life Alfonso II was married to Lucrezia de Medici who in their terms was from “new money.” He hated this because in his mind his family had been around and respected for hundreds of years, “old money,” so obviously he was better than her. Alfonso II only married her because she came with a huge dowry. Lucerzia died very mysteriously, and many people thought it was a murder. Alfonso II then remarried to a well known lady who was from an “old money” family. The silent listener in the monologue is thought to be this new bride’s uncle’s chief of entourage who was in charge of arranging the marriage.
The narrator in the monologue mentions first a personal belonging, the painting on the wall. He then goes on to talk about the women in the painting who was his last wife that is dead now. He also makes it very clear who painted it for him, Fra’ Pandolf (fictional character). Just by how the monologue starts we realize that this man is a very self praising person talking only about his belongings and the things he can control. The narrator goes on to talk about that little sparkle in her eye and the slight flush look that she has in the painting. The feeling the speaker gives off seems to be very angry when he says that it was not her husband who gave her this glow or sparkle, but it was everyone she passed on a daily basis. Obviously she was made to smile to easily, because she would smile at even the lowest of pheasants. This is not acceptable, because, didn’t she know that who he was? He has a name that is nine hundred years old, and she treated him the same as she treated the pheasants. Finally he told her to stop, but she kept doing it, because she probably didn’t even know what she was doing. He got so mad, at the fact that he couldn’t control her and her actions that he gave a command and all the smiling stopped, which means that he had her killed so that he would never be treated on the same level as the lowly pheasants again. Alfonso II told the listener this story, either to warn the listener of how his new wife should act, or to brag about how much control and power he had. The very end of the monologue he draws attention to another personal belonging, a sculpture, which shows that he is wrapped up in all things that he can own or control.
This monologue is so true today as it was in the Victorian Era. I compare the subject of control that Alfonso II had over the people around him to the workplace. Today many working families do not go on vacations. They say that they just can’t leave their job for a period of time, or that they are so busy they just can’t spare an extra moment. I think that the real reason for the lack of vacationing is that people do not want to go on vacation with their families because they can’t control how their families will act or how they will talk, but in the work place these people usually do have control over how their part of the job is run. They have more control in the workplace than they do at home, so they really don’t like going home to a house where they don’t have control. 
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