My Last Duchess by Robert Browning Theme | Robert Browning Poems

Robert Browning Poems

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My Last Duchess

'My Last Duchess ' is one of the famous dramatic monologue from the pen of Robert Browning. 

                

                  Robert Browning was an english poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost victorian poets. His famous poems include Meeting At Night' , 'Pippa's Song' , 'The Ring and The Book' , 'Men and Women' and so on.

                  'My Last Duchess' is a poem in which the Duke of Ferrara tells the messenger of his patential wife's family about his previous. The Duke is a widower . He is very haughty , hard-hearted , Jealous and greedy . He shows the portrait of the Last Duchess to the enjoy. There is a deep, passionate look in the eyes of the Duchess.

                  The Duke Comments upon the sort of mind and temperament she had . He explains that the Duchess had a foolish and childish nature . She was so frank and open hearted . She became happy easily . A gift from the Duke , the sunset , a bunch of cherries from an admirer or the mule she rode, all gave her similar pleasure . The Duke  Looked upon the Last Duchess as his private property . He felt that she had no right to take delight in other's company. He did not like that she should show generous behaviour towards others. He thought it to be below his dignity to advise his wife in such small things.

                    The Duke grew angry and "gave commands"."Then all smiles stopped together." The habits of The Duchess became intolerable for him . The Cruel Duke seems to have got her killed . The Duke takes the envoy downstairs . He hints cleverly that he expects a big dowry from the count . These lines bring out the hypocrisy of the Duke while going downstairs the Duke draws the attention of the count's envoy towards a bronze statue of Neptune , controlling the sea-horse. He seems to suggest that he will tame and control his wife in the same way.

                      In short , the poem throws light on the cruel , haughty and  greedy Duke . It also tells how nice the Duchess was. The poem is a beautiful study in contrast of  two characters.

Gagandeep Kaur Chahal