My Last Duchess/ Robert Browning - Essay Example

due: My Last Duchess- Robert Browning The speaker of the poem, My last duchess dominates the conversation. The speaker is a duke and is conversing about a work of art of his dead wife who was youthful and very pretty. He has been widowed. The duke is the ‘I’ in the poem. This shows that the poem is a soliloquy or monologue. The poem is loosely based on historical events that involved Alfonso, the duke of Ferrara, who lived in the 16th century. The listener is an emissary who is arranging the duke’s marriage to another young beautiful girl.

This messenger has come to negotiate the duke’s marriage to a girl from a powerful family. He is listening to the duke as he is being shown through the palace.My last duchess is a paradigm of a dramatic dialogue. The sole purpose of the convention includes a symbolic setting; of Alfonso the duke of Ferrara. The speaker avoids dealing with the purpose until near the poems end because he was explaining his mansion to a messenger while explaining the sole reason he had been widowed. It was a way of giving his message to his future father- in- law through the envoy (line 51).

The speaker describes the third character as one who loves art. We can see this from the accurate description he gives about the art found in his house containing images of his former wife on the walls. Browning wants us to judge the speaker as jealous. Towards the end of the poem, we shocked to note that the duke is indeed responsible for his former duchess’ demise (line 45-46).The speaker’s language illustrates his attitude toward his own poet in that the duke is impressively charming by his use of language.

He employs his own sense of irony when he brings up the understanding that the wrongdoings of his wife were actually caused by her joyous nature rather than infidelity. He also shows interesting complication of his attitude when tells his story to envoy from his wife- to- be to serve as a warning to ensure that his new wife pleases him alone. Brownings point in this poem comes out clearly that in the male dominate society; women suffer and have no say. This can be proven by where he had the duchess killed and also he is addressing his future father-in-law and not the future duchess.

There is also abuse of power in that he used his power to terminate his beautiful wife’s live. Work citedBrowning, Robert. My Last Duchess and Other Poems. , 2013. Internet resource.