My Last Duchess By Browning Essay Research

My Last Duchess By Browning Essay, Research Paper

One of the greatest Victorian poets and masters of the dramatic monologue,

Robert Browning was born in London on the seventh of May in 1812. His father was

a clerk at the Bank of England and mostly educated Browning at home. He attended

London University in 1828, but withdrew after his second term. After his first

publication in 1833, Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession, he received little

attention and only random criticism of his later works. It was not until 1869

when The Ring and the Book was published that he received recognition and began

to build his reputation. Prior to his success, he married Elizabeth Browning

against her father.s wishes and stayed deeply devoted to her until her death

in 1861. While married to Elizabeth, he lived in Florence, Italy, where he did

some of his finest work. Nearly all of his companions and acquaintances

considered him a sociable person and a gracious host, as he was well known for

his dinner parties. Browning continued to publish volumes of poetry until his

death on December the twelfth of 1889. Robert Browning is remembered for his

mastery at capturing the essence and power of the dramatic monologue. Through

symbolism, structure and technique, Browning creates the model of the ideal

dramatic monologue in the poem, "My Last Duchess." "My Last

Duchess" was published in 1845. "Ferrara" is the subtitle of the

poem and assists in disclosing the design of the poem, a portrayal of Alfonso

II, the fifth Duke of Ferrara. The historical life of Alfonso II fits

intricately with the events and happenings within the poem. Alfonso II married

Lucrezia de. Medici who is the daughter of the Duke of Florence. The Duke.s

family has a long credited name and wealth that had been around for ages. The

affluence and power of the duchess.s family had been newly acquired, and when

comparing the two families, the Duke.s was much more significant, at least in

his eyes. The Duchess of Alfonso II died of poisoning in 1561. Three short years

later the Duke arranged to marry Barbara, a niece of the Count of Tyrol. The

speaker of the dramatic monologue is an egotistical and pompous Duke. He speaks

to an envoy of the Count throughout the monologue. At the beginning of the poem,

he slowly draws back the curtain and reveals a portrait. This portrait, he

asserts, is his "last Duchess.looking as if she were alive"

(lines1-2). The Duke continues by addressing the look upon her face and the many

reasons for her blushing cheeks. Continuing the description, he depicts the

duchess.s ways, including her virtues of innocence and unspoiled beauty.

Examples are given by the Duke of how easily she is impressed by nature and the

simple pleasures of life. He claims he is disgusted by her ability to see

natural beauty as an equal delectation with his name and matrimony. Then very

subtly he tells the envoy how he gave orders to have "all smiles stopped

together" (line 46). The envoy is completely aware of the truth about the

ordered killings and the Duke.s greedy reasoning for marrying the niece of the

Count. The contemptuous way of the Duke is made perfectly clear to the envoy,

and the envoy begins to leave. The delegate is completely aware of the truth

about the ordered killings and the Duke.s greedy reasoning for marrying the

niece of the Count. The Duke elaborates his reasoning for marrying the duchess,

by declaring it is only for the dowry. The last few lines of the poem reveal the

full essence of the Duke and how he sees himself as powerful and godlike.

"My Last Duchess" contains multiple symbols throughout the poem. A few

of the symbols in the poem are said by the Duke pertaining to the duchess. The

Duke gives examples of things she was enamored by such as the "the dropping

of the daylight in the West" (line 26), the "bough of cherries"

(line 27) and the white mule. She enjoys and treasures the sunset for its

beauty; this the Duke finds trivial. The cherry branch given to her by a servant

is white and pink which could be representative of her youth and innocence. The

white mule she would ride is something that gives her pleasure, she finds it

exotic and interesting. All of these gifts of nature he finds to be elementary

and insignificant, but to her they are beautiful and extraordinary. The symbols

told by the Duke also echo her natural splendor and her innocent ways, since she

is so taken by the simple things in life. Furthermore, the Duke could not

understand how she could compare and find equal the nine hundred year old name

he has given her to a sunset. "I know not how – as if she ranked my gift of

a nine- hundred- year-old name with anybody.s gift" (lines 33-34). These

various symbols of the duchess deeply contrast with the Duke, for he is only