“My Last Duchess”; A Portrait of Oppression and Obsession

Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a poem that works through associations. It presents a scene that is particular to Browning’s use of dramatic dialogue, and evokes a sense of darkness, oppression, and domestic conflict which is often found in his poetry. “My Last Duchess” is a narrative poem, yet it lacks any narrative development; rather, the poem relies on associations of images and ideas in order to create a surreal and eerie atmosphere vividly describing Duke Ferrara’s dead wife. Duke Ferrara is the speaker of the poem, and is illustrated as being a jealous and controlling individual who is consumed by his dead wife’s imperfections and lack of living up to his outlandish standards. One’s first initial impression of “My Last Duchess” may consist of the poem being Duke Ferrara’s lovely tribute and memorial to his deceased wife, the Duchess of Ferrara. Yet, “My Last Duchess” has a darker subtext that reveals a dysfunctional and repressive male-dominated relationship, ultimately reflecting a growing concern surrounding domestic violence evolving from the Victorian Era.

A great deal of prose and poetry emerging from the Victorian Era from which Browning writes addresses such growing social concerns and problems erupting from violence centered in the domestic sphere. Melissa Valiska Gregory illustrates this notion in her essay, “Robert Browning and the Lure of the Violent Lyric Voice: Domestic Violence in the Dramatic Monologue” and states, “Historical work on the subject of sexual violence within the Victorian home suggests that it was a relatively common feature of domestic life, and occurred within families from a wide range of economic and social positions” (492). Browning’s poem illustrates such violence depicted in an aristocratic home.

Through utilizing dramatic dialogue in “My Last Duchess”, Browning depicts the inner-workings and ever-present oppressive nature of the Duke with imagery suggesting he is consumed with his powerful desire for power and control. These desires are exemplified in the Duke’s attitude towards his dead wife, the Duchess. The opening lines of the poem capture the overall mood and tone of the poem, and are immediately revealed through the Duke’s icy, callous, and apathetic feelings towards the Duchess. This is illustrated in the lines stating, “That is my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ Looking as if she were alive. I call/ That piece a wonder, now : Fra Pandolf’s hands/ Worked busily a day, and there she stands” (1- 3). Immediately, the Duke refers to the painting of his deceased wife, demonstrating how he objectifies her as being merely a thing or “piece”. It appears as though the Duke regards his wife as a “wonder” in the painting, yet his strong disdain for her as a person is quite perceptible. Moreover, the Duke’s objectification of women addresses a growing social concern of the Victorian Era of a patriarchal society in which many women were imprisoned in the realms of their domestic sphere. In the essay, “Structure and Meaning in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, Joshua Adler demonstrates this notion and suggests, …the pattern of self-enclosure thus established brings “My Last Duchess” into [a] close relationship with two major concerns in Victorian literature: the superiority of the dynamic, spontaneous mode of life over the static and self-imprisoned, and the problem of culture and ethics in society” (220). Browning portrays the Duke as an individual who sees his wife as a mere objects whose sole existence ought to revolve around pleasing him. Additionally, the Duke’s obsession with control is exposed by his placing more value on the painting versus his wife. Unlike his inability to maintain absolute control over his wife in real life, the Duke is able to have utter control over the painting, which is merely an inanimate object in his possession.

Browning employs irony, “a statement that contradicts the actual attitude of the speaker… contrasting what is expected with what occurs …having tones of mockery… as the motivating element in his narrative poem” (Deutch 73). The irony of the poem surfaces through the Duke’s complaints of the Duchess’s “flaws”. This is illustrated when the Duke describes her as, “For calling up a spot of that joy./ She had A Heart-how shall I say?-too soon made glad,/ Too easily impressed; she liked what’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (21-24). The Duke’s incessant jealousy is aroused through the Duchess’s attributes of being easily amused. The Duke believes the Duchess’s demeanor to encompass serious character defects because she does not reserve all of her attentions for him, or his rank of power. The Duchess merely takes delight in the simple pleasures in life such as sunsets, “the dropping daylight in the West” (26).

Additionally, the Duke chastises the Duchess for her good manners and polite behavior which is depicted in the lines stating, “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” (31-33). The heart of the poem illustrates the Duke’s envious feelings of fury surrounding the Duchess’s treatment of not placing him on a pedestal. Browning reveals the Duke prizes his aristocratic status over everything else in life. Browning explores dramatic irony through the Duchess’s “faults” which are qualities such as compassion, humility, and taking delight in the simple pleasures in life. These character traits normally associated with being morally upright and virtuous, are degraded by the Duke, which ultimately characterizes his own nature of being manipulative, materialistic, and controlling. This paradoxical imagery of the Duchess supports the atmosphere Browning is creating of a deeply disturbed portrait of a sick and twisted relationship built on the foundations of oppression and obsession.





Works Cited
Adler, Joshua. "Structure and Meaning in Browning's "My Lat
Duchess"" Victorian Poetry 15 (1977): 219-27. JSTOR. 1977. West Virginia University Press. 1 Feb. 2010 .

Browning, Robert. ""My Last Duchess"" 100 best-loved poems. New
York: Dover Publications, 1995. 64-65.

Deutsch, Babette. Poetry Handbook A Dictionary of Terms. New
York: Collins, 1982.

Gregory, Melissa Valiska. "Robert Browning and the Lure of the
Violent Lyric." Victorian Poetry 38 (2000): 491-510. JSTOR. 2000. West Virgina University Press. 1 Feb. 2010 .