My Last Duchess - Robert Browning
Robert Browning was a significant English poet of the Victorian era. He was born in London on May 7, 1812 and passed away in Venice on December 12 1889. Browning was a bright child who began reading at the age of five and wrote his first poems at the age of six. He read widely from his father's sizable collection of rare books, gaining a substantial, if haphazard knowledge of a wide range literary genres. Alfonso || d'Este, who served as the Duke of Ferrara from 1533 to 1598 was the subject of Robert Browning's Poem. At the age of 25 Ferrara wed Lucrezia di Cosimo Medici, Lucrezia was apart of the Medici Family, a very prosperous banking family that rose to political prominence in the 15th century.
What is the poem about?
The poems opening line "Ferrara" identifies the speaker as Alfonso d'Este the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533-1598) who wed the Grand Duke of Tuscany's 13-year old daughter in 1558. As he talks about his time with his now-deceased duchess, the Duke exhibits numerous narcissistic traits. afterward, he picks up an earlier conversation about wedding plans and mentions another piece of art in passing--a bronze statue of Neptune taming a seas horse by Claus of Innsbruck, making his wife's passing just another piece of artwork. The reader discovers as the poem progresses that Duke Ferrara is speaking to a member of his fiancee's family. The duke is an extremely haughty aristocrat who is consumed by the significance of his noble lineage. His primary criticism is his deceased wife, whose portrait he as Madruz are viewing, appears to be that she was an excessively kind person. He seemed offended that she didn't pay him full attention and that she wasn't sufficiently impressed by the length of his noble lineage, he therefore had her killed. The poem can be read as an allegory for the oppression of women in Victorian England or as a representation of the pervasive cruelty of Renaissance Italy. The Duke, however is a particularly repulsive member of humanity.
What Was The Theme Of The Poem?
The theme is power, specifically the political and social power that the speaker (the Duke) wields and his attempt to rule his lands. He hold power with a firm hand as the duke sees very possession he has and every person he deals with as a chance to increase his influence. If he chooses to show them, fancy objects in his art gallery, serve as a display of his influence to the world, servants must recognize his authority and wives must be subjugated. His tyrannical power is threatened by kindness, joy and emotion a few times in the story. Another common theme could be jealousy, as the Dukes intense jealousy, any event that gave the duchess joy would make him feel just as bad. He believed that his "favor at her breast" had to have been more prized than anything else he could have saw. Arrogance and jealousy soon turned into a murderous event as the Duke unintentionally exposes the depths of his own pride, there is some acknowledgment that the duchess's deep affections were a "trifling" matter and that he fell for her, but soon regains his pride which made him stop his act as he realized how dangerous it could turn out.
For a little bit of a change, I have here a video which debriefs and goes into an amazing summary and analysis of My Last Duchess. Dr. Andrew Barker gives a lecture to the viewers about the poem and its greatness, going into some history and background information about Robert Browning as well.
Works Cited:
Poetry for Students. . Encyclopedia.com. 12 Apr. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 14 Apr. 2023, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/my-last-duchess.
“Robert Browning.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Browning.
Yasmeen. “My Last Duchess.” Owl Eyes, https://www.owleyes.org/text/last-duchess/analysis/historical-context.
“Robert Browning - My Last Duchess - Analysis. Poetry Lecture by Dr. Andrew Barker.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 June 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlJhrfUaqGU.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “My Last Duchess Theme of Power.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, https://www.shmoop.com/my-last-duchess/power-theme.htmlRead.
“My Last Duchess.” Neil Kurtzman, 20 May 2021, https://medicine-opera.com/2021/05/my-last-duchess/.
“My Last Duchess.” Enotes.com, Enotes.com, https://www.enotes.com/topics/last-duchess/themes.
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