My last Duchess Breakdown

My Last Duchess

Title

• “My” hints that the poem will be in first person and also sets up the narrator as possessive

• “Last” implies that this Duchess is one from several and unidentifiable initially from the title

• European nobility implied from the title Duchess

“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive. I call / That a piece of wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands / Worked busily a day, and there she stands.”

Lines 1-4

The poem opens with the first person narrator, the Duke, showing the emissary painting of his former wife on the wall. “Looking as if she were alive” implies that she is no longer alive. The Duke is proud of the painting, and name-drops the artist, “Fra Pandolf”, who “worked busily” on it, implying the painting is of value

• The speaker takes on the persona of the Duke of Ferrara

• This means that Browning can use the character to convey his message about the abuse of power and control

• The speaker establishes control from the start by using the possessive pronoun “my”

• The reader’s interest is engaged by wondering why this is his “last” Duchess. What happened to her?

• “I call that a piece of wonder” is ominous as it suggests that the Duke is viewing his dead wife as a piece of art and a possession to be owned

“Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said / “Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read / Strangers like you that pictured countenance, / The depth and passion of its earnest glance,”

Lines 5-8

The Duke invites his visitor to sit down and look at the painting. He repeats, in case there is any doubt, that the painter was “Fra Pandolf” - a painter and a monk. He says this because people have commented on the passion and depiction of her facial expression (her “countenance" - a person’s face/facial expression), and wonder which artist could capture it in such a fine way. The Duke is boasting about how famous the artist is, demonstrating his influence and wealth

• The rhetorical question inviting the guest to sit and look does not require a reply, implying it is more of a command than an optional invitation

• This adds to the sense of the Duke’s controlling nature

• The fact that “Fra” stands for “Brother”, meaning the artist is a monk, is suggesting that there was no impropriety (no improper behaviour) in the process of completing the painting itself

“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. -”

Lines 9-13

The reader learns that the Duke is the only person allowed to pull back the curtain to reveal the painting. Others have asked, if they dared (“if they durst” - durst = to dare), about how the expression on the Duchess’s face came to be. The Duke appears to be frustrated at all the attention his former wife is receiving. The curtain is designed to hide her and the Duke controls who can see her

• This section of the poem reveals more about the Duke’s controlling nature

• By covering the painting with the curtain, the Duke is able to control who sees her in death in a way he could not in life (more about this is revealed later)

• This behaviour is sinister and the reader begins to wonder if he was involved in her death, perhaps covering the painting as a symptom of his guilt

• His comment “if they durst” shows he has power over others and people are scared of him, as they wouldn’t dare ask him about the painting

“-Sir, ‘twas not” / Her husband’s presence only, called that spot / Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek; -

Lines 13-15

The Duke describes that he was not the only man who could lead the Duchess to have a “spot of joy”, meaning a blush, on her cheek

• Blushing is associated with flirtation, and so the Duke is suggesting that many men may have flirted with the Duchess

• This was unacceptable to the Duke at a time when, upon marriage, a woman lost many of her rights and essentially became the property of her husband

• The Duke is suggesting that it should only be him that causes such a flush on her face

• There is also the implication here that the Duke is a bit paranoid and overly possessive of his wife

• Now she is his possession, a physical painting on a wall, he could be the only one to see that look of joy on her face - he would not allow anyone else to see it without his permission

Fra 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”

Lines 15-21

The Duke saw Fra Pandolf asking the Duchess to move her shawl (her "mantle" - cloak or shawl) so that it would uncover more of her wrist. At this moment, the Duchess was blushing at Fra Pandolf’s suggestion. She thought Fra Pandolf was complimenting her. The Duke believes that she is too easily impressed or aroused

• The Duke is criticising the Duchess as someone who was too easy to flirt with and too friendly with other men

• The reader cannot be sure if this is true, as pride and jealousy may have caused the Duke to believe his wife would flirt with a monk

• The reference to the “half-flush that dies along her throat” foreshadows her eventual fate

“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 favour 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 while mule / She rode with round the terrace - all and each / Would draw from her alike the approving speech, / Or blush, at least. -”

Lines 22-31

The Duke implies that the Duchess was overly friendly and unfaithful, as shown by how “her looks went everywhere” and how she treated all forms of affection equally. He is offended that she found as much joy in simple gestures—like a bunch of cherries from a man of lower status or riding a white mule—as she did in the “favour at her breast,” a symbolic and possibly intimate gift from the Duke himself. This lack of distinction between high and low status, and her equal pleasure in them all, fuels the Duke's anger and sense of superiority

• The fact that the Duchess seemed to have a mind of her own conflicts with the Duke’s perception of how she should act as a wife

• His attempts to convey her unfaithfulness and her flaws may act as the justification for what happened to her

• The imagery of the sunset can be seen as a pathetic fallacy and foreshadowing of her life coming to an end, like the end of the day

• The connotation of infertility with the mule may imply that the marriage was childless - another justification for the Duke’s actions

• The Duke believes that his wealth and status should be more important even than beauty and nature

• The fact that the Duchess also likes other things is viewed as a criticism of himself, presenting him as insecure and jealous

• His pride is hurt as all of her affections are not reserved just for him

• He is reliant on the complete control and dominance of women to make himself feel powerful and desirable

“- 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. -”

The Duke sarcastically remarks that the Duchess would often “thank” men, using “good!” ironically to suggest he disapproved of her behaviour. He believes that by marrying her and giving her his prestigious “nine-hundred-years-old name,” she should have been more grateful and acted accordingly, implying she was of lower social status. He imagines confronting her about her behaviour but admits he lacks the skill to express his disgust properly. Although he considers correcting her, he ultimately refuses, saying he would “never stoop” to such a level, reinforcing his pride, arrogance, and controlling nature

• Repetition of “stoop” implies the Duchess’ lower status and the Duke’s unwillingness to go down to her level. It is beneath him to teach her how to behave

• She was not sophisticated enough to see the greater worth of the Duke’s ancient name - she liked everything the same

• He is irritated that she does not seem to appreciate his importance and status

• By marrying her, he had given her his “nine-hundred-years-old name”, revealing his family had been around for a long time

• However, he seems comfortable enough discussing what he disliked about the Duchess with a stranger

• Perhaps he thought he shouldn’t have to stoop to talk to a woman, even if she was his wife

“- Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, / When’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. -”

Lines 43-47

The Duke complains that, while she did smile at him whenever he passed, she gave him the same smile as everyone else. His frustration grew as her continued to break the “rules” of marriage. He therefore “gave commands”, which implies that he instructed someone else to murder her. The Duke points out that she looks “as if alive” in the painting, juxtaposing with the revelation of her death

• Browning describes her death as her “smiles stopping” signifying not only the end of her happiness but also the end of her life

• This conveys the Duke’s absolute power over his wife and the overall power that he has - that he can just kill someone without consequence

• It also demonstrates a loss of control (he “snapped”)

“- 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 pretense / 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!”

Lines 47-56

It becomes clear that the Duke is speaking to an emissary arranging a new marriage with a Count’s daughter. He refers to the Count’s “munificence,” (extremely generous) suggesting he expects a generous dowry, though he claims his main interest is in the Count’s “fair daughter’s self.” His comment that she will become “my object” reveals his possessive nature. The final image of Neptune “taming a sea-horse” is symbolic—comparing himself to a powerful, god-like figure controlling something delicate and submissive. By ending with “for me,” the Duke reinforces his obsession with control, ownership, and being the sole recipient of admiration and devotion

• t is possible that the Duke is explaining, in a menacing tone, the actions he would take if his next wife does not live up to his expectations

• By suggesting that the Count will give him a substantial amount of money for his daughter’s dowry, he is possibly giving a veiled threat about what may happen to the Count’s daughter if he is not paid what he believes his power and status are worth

• Ultimately, the Duke objectifies women, and as the only voice in the poem is the Duke’s, he has robbed his Duchess of her voice and her power