My Last Duchess Flashcards
“That’s my last Duchess”
Browning begins his monologue in iambic pentameter and will continue in this meter. His speech is firm, well-expressed and articulate — it is only later when angry that his fluency falters.
The pronoun “my” hints at the possessiveness the Duke feels toward women. “Last” makes us wonder how many wives he’s had, and whether he’s intending to have more, i.e. they are like possessions to him: The Duke is a collector of paintings and also a collector of women.
“Looking as if she were alive”
Initially the reader may interpret this line as praise of the painting; however, this description, repeated later at a crucial moment, takes on progressively sinister overtones as the poem goes on. It also tells us the Duchess is dead, setting up the backstory of the poem. The lifelike qualities of the painting remind us how skillful Fra Pandolf was, perhaps Browning is suggesting that the Duchess is literally ‘looking’ at the envoy – conveying a cry for help?
“My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name”
This shows that the duke takes pride in his name and believes he is raising the Duchess’s status by marrying her. He ignores the fact of the dowry he received and the importance of the Medici family in Florence.In any case, the duke seems to think in terms of the gifts he wants to give, not what the duchess, needed or wanted. Note the possessive pronoun ‘my’ highlights his self importance and arrogance
