1. “My Last Duchess”
By Robert Browning

2. Robert Browning Married Elizabeth Barrett Browning, also a famous poet
Wrote plays as well as poetry
Critics claimed his poetry was too difficult to read
“Perfected” the dramatic monologue

3. Summary
A man shares a painting of his “last Duchess” (ex-wife or late wife) with a guest. He points out the blush in her cheeks. He suggests his wife was unfaithful, and he could not ignore her infidelity. (Whether or not this is true, and what he did to her as a result, is subject to the reader’s interpretation.) Then he reminds his guest of his offer to marry the Count’s daughter. They return to the gathering downstairs.

4. Form of Poem Dramatic Monologue Significant experience
Unknown audience
Only one side of the conversation is heard
Like listening to someone talk on the phone
Rhyme Technique
Every two lines rhyme.
Aa, bb, cc, etc.
Enjambment
Thoughts (or sentences) end in middle of lines so the rhyme is not obvious.
Readers read the punctuation rather than the rhyme.

5. Thesis
Robert Browning chooses the dramatic monologue for his poem “My Last Duchess” because the format guides readers to the theme. Because the Duke is the focal character of the poem, his true character is revealed and readers are warned to be weary of people like him.

6. Title
Title:
“My Last Duchess” implies the Duke has had several duchesses and/or plans to have more.
Used like “ex”—meaning in the past
Used like “most recent”—meaning more to come

7. Speaker, Audience, Etc. Speaker: The Duke Audience: An unknown guest
Setting: His home
In a room upstairs
Occasion: He is showing the guest the painting of his former wife
Conflict: His wife was unfaithful. He stopped her, and now she is his “last duchess.”

8. Organization Part A, Lines 1 – 4 Part B, Lines 5 – 10
Introduction
Shows a friend the portrait of his wife
Introduces his wife as his “last Duchess”
Says she “looks alive”
Part B, Lines 5 – 10
Says this is a secret painting that few are allowed to see (he keeps it covered)
The secret nature implies foul play
Part C, Lines
Introduces his wife’s supposed infidelity
His Duchess has a “spot of joy” on her cheeks and a “half-flush” along her neck
He was not the one to “call up that spot of joy”
She was too easily “made glad” by other men and had looks that “went everywhere”

9. Organization (cont.) Part D, 25 – 34 Part E, Lines 34 – 40
The Duke speculates on the details of her infidelity
Men gave her things that would “draw from her … approving speech” or a “blush, at least”
She thanked them “I know not how”
Part E, Lines 34 – 40
He justifies what he did with her/ to her
He couldn’t ask her to stop, or she wouldn’t stop if he asked
He’d have to “stoop” (compromise, swallow his pride) if he ignored or accepted her actions
His justifications prompt the question:
Was she really unfaithful or was he excessively jealous?

10. Organization (cont.) Part F, Lines 40 - 46 Part G, Lines 46 – 54
He chose not to “stoop”
He commanded something, and her smiles stopped
Did he break her spirit?
Did he divorce her?
Did he kill her?
Part G, Lines 46 – 54
He implies he killed her: She stands, in the portrait, “as if alive”
He asks his guest to return with him to the gathering downstairs
He speaks lightly of the Count’s daughter, whom he hopes to marry
Part H, Lines 54 – 56
He asks his guest to notice the sculpture of Neptune who is “taming” a sea horse
He suggests he also “tamed” his wife

11. Irony
Irony
He shows his guest a portrait of his “last” wife as a preface to the new woman he is courting and hopes to marry
“The fair daughter’s self, as I avowed at starting, is my object” (li )
He admits he already “tamed” one (portrait) and will tame another (statue)
He’s unapologetic about his behavior and admits he will do it again

12. Imagery Images of red (signifying blood) on white
Spot of joy (blush) on her cheeks
Half-flush on throat
A heart too soon made glad
Dropping of daylight (sunset)
Bough of cherries while riding a white mule

13. Figurative Language Figurative Language:
Metaphor and Literary Reference
“Notice Neptune, though, /Taming a sea horse” (li )
Neptune, the god of the sea, taming a sea horse
Man, the superior, taming his wife
Hyperbole
“My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name”
Giving her his last name in marriage
He thought it the greatest gift in the world
She treated it as trivial

14. Tone Tone: Change in Tone: Lines 1 – 41 Scornful, resentful
The blush on her cheek and down her neck
“As if she ranked/ My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name/ With anybody’s gift” (li. 32 – 34)
Change in Tone:
Lines
Authoritative, unapologetic, jealous
“I choose/ Never to stoop.”
Lines 45 – 46
“I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together.”

15. Key Lines
These key lines establish the problem and the Duke’s solution. They are intentionally vague, and readers must decide if the wife was unfaithful (or if the Duke was too jealous) and what the Duke did about it.
Problem:
“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” (li. 21 – 24).
Solution:
“I choose/ Never to stoop” (li ).
“I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together” (li ).

16. Inference What happened to the Duchess? I think he killed her
Many references to life or death.
“last Duchess” (li. 1)
“looking as if she were alive” (li. 2)
“half-flush that dies along her throat” (li. 19)
“dropping of the daylight in the West” (li. 26)
“stands as if alive” (li )
“cast in bronze for me” (li. 56)

17. Inference (cont.)
Why?
She was probably a flirt and maybe unfaithful
The Duke was a jealous, pompous husband
He didn’t like her smiling and blushing at other men
He couldn’t stop her and he wouldn’t ignore it
He wanted ultimate control
He willingly admits his actions without remorse
He flippantly goes on to wed again

18. Return to Thesis
As seen from the categories discussed above, the Duke likes possessing things (art) and people (wives). He craves control, is excessively jealous, and allows his pride to dictate his actions. Although the wife might have been unfaithful, the Duke is a tyrant. Browning warns readers to be careful of tyrants, jealousy, and power.
By writing this poem as a dramatic monologue, readers focus on the Duke and what he reveals through his conversation with an unknown listener.

19. Theme Theme: Be weary of people like the Duke.
They crave power
They exert control
They have few boundaries
They have little conscience
Tyrannical leaders (like Hitler or Stalin)
Abusive partners/ spouses
Some employers

20. Theme (continued) and Text Connection
Theme: Jealousy “blinds” us from making good decisions and often reveals our own faults.
“Jealous” by Nick Jonas (song)
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
(short story)
Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts (movie)
“Hotel Ceiling” by Rixton

21. Dramatic Monologue Explanation of Connection: “The Chair”
“The Chair” is also a dramatic monologue. In this song, the speaker is a man in a bar having a conversation with a woman whose chair he “accidentally” took.
“The Chair”
by George Strait