My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

Browning is thought to have based the speaker in ‘My Last Duchess’ on the Duke of Ferrara, an important nobleman in Renaissance Italy. The Italian Renaissance was the time of great artistic innovation, but it was also infamous for it’s violence and bloodshed. These dual aspects of society are reflected in the Duke’s pride in his art collection and in his apparent lack of guilt about seemingly having had his wife killed.