An Explanation of “My Last Duchess,” a Robert Browning Poem

“My Last Duchess” is not an easy song to understand. This is partly because it was written in the 16th century, but mainly because Browning intentionally makes the speaker cryptic. To better understand what is going on in the poem, look at the summary and notes on the form and tone of the poem.

Summary: In “My Last Duchess” on the 16^{th< /sup>sup>sensa tells that the speaker has recently shown affection to his wife and other men. This emotion is suggested to kill the speaker. The poem begins with a discussion of the speaker’s wife. It is clear that the speaker is talking about his wife recently as he begins the poem with “That my last princess mourned the walls” (1), and continues to talk about the women in pain in most of the poem, he suggestively suggests that he is looking at other people while talking about the happy face in the picture, which is meant it is for the painter and not for him to lovingly paint the portrait of a wandering woman.}

It is clear that the speaker does not know if any real unbelief has occurred, as he says “They have already thanked the good people, but thanks / I don’t know how” (31-32). The last part “I don’t know how” suggests that the speaker is not sure if he has cheated.

T he one with controlling anger repressing protesting happens. The speaker mentions that if he went down to chastise his wife recently, he would have said “I hate you” (38). This strong language suggests that her actions deeply upset him. But this disturbance comes from the wounded wound of pride, not from wounded love. The speaker’s pride is clearly the focus of the main lines as “as if he preferred / My name the gift of nine hundred years / With any role” (32-34). From these ideas it is clear that the speaker feels that he is a partner of great value, and is wounded by the fact that he did not understand his wife; For he admits, not because he loved her, but because she insulted his position.

• Example of poem: barney.gonzaga.edu/~jdavis6/poem.html