Robert Browning’s verse form “My Last Duchess” is a glorious achievement within the format of the dramatic soliloquy, a poetic form in which there is only one speaker. Because there is only one speaker, we, the readers, must carefully consider what the Duke is telling us, and we often have to read between the lines in order to maintain an objective view of what is happening in the verse form.
This paper will discuss how the use of the dramatic soliloquy makes the subject (the Duke) tell a narrative while, at the same time, inadvertently and ironically revealing uncomplimentary features about himself. Through diction and imagery, Browning further reveals the character of the Duke.
The manner and structure of this verse form play a significant role in the effect of the poem. “My Last Duchess” is written as a dramatic soliloquy: one speaker relates the entire poem as if to another person present with him. This format suits this verse form particularly well because the speaker, the Duke of Ferrara, comes across as very controlling, especially in conversation.
For example, he is jealous that he was not able to “monopolize” his former duchess’s smiles for himself (Dupras 14). He also seems to control the actions of the person he is addressing with comments such as “Will’t please you rise” (47) and “Nay, we’ll go/Together down, sir” and his refusal to “stoop” out of respect for the count (53-54, 43).
Browning uses many grammatical techniques, including a simple rhyme scheme, enjambment, and caesura, to convey various features and qualities about the Duke and the situation. The rhyme scheme used is AA BB, which is very common in lays and songs. This pattern is called a heroic couplet because of the paired rhyme in an iambic pentameter format.
The icy ways of the Duke are established through the AA BB rhyme scheme. This form, although “imperceptible,” is “unfailing” in its contribution to the Duke’s character (Burrows 56) because the Duke rarely speaks and stops as in normal conversation. The heroic couplet meter used is symbolic of many of the great poets, including Pope, who wrote many of his major works in this format.
Yet, according to William Phelps, the rhyme scheme evident in Pope is barely heard at all in “My Last Duchess.” Phelps writes that the effect of this scheme is so subtle and concealed that the poem is often mistaken for blank poetry. This, again, contributes to the overall character of the Duke and is a “subtle” force behind the revelations that he later makes (171).
One has only to glance at the printed page of “My Last Duchess” to recognize how few of the lines end in punctuation points. The inability of readers to detect these grammatical mistakes during the narration of the poem is due to the extreme occurrence of enjambments within the poem; that is, sentences and other grammatical units do not conclude at the end of lines.
Take, for example, the following passage from “My Last Duchess”:
Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark”–and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and make excuse,
–E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop.
This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. (37-47)
Since the meter of this poem is iambic pentameter, this creates a feeling of regular speech and further helps to establish the tone of the Duke. The run-on sentences in lines 37-39, the enjambment in lines 37-39, and the interruption in speech (caesura) in line 39 indicated by the dash all contribute to the feel of regular speech.
The semicolon used in line 38 is the caesura that creates a break and forces readers to look at the quotation in two parts, while the dash sets the quote apart from the rest of the poem, as noted by Dupras (25). The use of enjambment creates a realistic feel of the poetry and emotion–in the Duke’s case, the emotion is outrage and jealousy towards the last duchess.
Notice that through the passage, the lines do not end in punctuation marks but, instead, flow over into the next line naturally–this, too, is the enjambment. This frequent change in punctuation creates a feeling that the Duke is hiding something and that the lines have more to say, “This grew” and most ominous, “All smiles stopped together” (45-46).
This beckons the reader to inquire, “What else is there? What does the Duke mean by ‘this grew’ and then ‘all smilings stop’?” This effect is used, likely, to make the Duke seem less formal than his character truly is. This laxity, writes Lancashire, creates a cold and calculating tone within the Duke (3).
This hardened and relaxed facade of the Duke slithers its way through much of the poem until, about line 31, where the punctuation changes suddenly and the Duke seems to be holding back strong emotions. His emotions explode when he finally, we can infer, admits guilt: “This grew; I gave bids; ‘then all smilings stop together'” (45-6). Another critic points out the frequent use of repetition, particularly of the letter “I”, “my”, and the statement “There she stands/As if alive” (46-47), all so lends a hand in showcasing the possessive and “audacious” nature of the Duke (Phelps 211). The structure of the poem contributes to unveiling the Duke, just as irony will allow us to further explore the Duke’s possessive ways.
What sort of person is the Duke, and what exactly is the story of his last duchess? To answer these questions, close scrutiny of the Duke’s own words is required. First and foremost, it is clear that the Duke is speaking to someone, and he is showing this person a picture of his last duchess.
“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,” (1) he says, and then goes on to explain the painter, Fra Pandolf, “worked busily a day, and there she stands” (3-4). The Duke then describes the usual reaction that people have to seeing the painting, a reaction that is created because of the “earnest glance” of the Duchess (Butler 2). In short, the Duke is a very manipulative and controlling man, whose obsession with his Duchess leads him to, we can infer, murder. But why did the Duke hate the last Duchess?
All that we know of the Duchess is told through the words of the Duke, and from his own words she seems like a good person. He starts off by saying she was too happy, “[a] spot of joy” (14-15) always gleamed across her face.
She thanked people who pleased her, which everyone would notice as a good thing, except to the Duke because he does not want any wife of his thanking people as equals, especially as the Duke cites “as if she ranked/My gift of nine-hundred-year-old name/With anybody’s gift” (32-34). It seems the Duke was offended that the Duchess ranked him as equal among all other things, which shows a very “democratic” feature of the Duchess and makes the Duke look awful (Burrow 58).
According to the Duke, the last Duchess was too friendly, she smiled too much, “”She smiled, no doubt, whene’er I passed her; but who passed without much the same smiling?” (line 44) – this, of course, infuriated the Duke, who believed her smiling was for him and him alone. This is also ironic because who would not want a wife that was pleasant and diplomatic?
The Duke is so possessive that he is blind to the good qualities of the Duchess, writes Lancashire (7). The Duke, a man of high social status, says these things ironically, believing that he is highlighting the negatives of an otherwise good individual. The Duke believed that the Duchess ranked other things above him, which is a wholly inappropriate action to the Duke – a self-confessed egomaniac. Nothing should outrank “The Duke.”
Therefore, when the Duke reads a list of things the Duchess valued equally (“My Favour at her breast/The dropping of the daytime in West./the bough of cherries some interfering sap [gave to her]…” (26-27)), we are reminded once again that the Duke expects his wife to value gifts that he gives her more highly than even the sun, which is highest above all. This further illustrates the haughtiness of the Duke, who ironically, as Lance Butler points out, “[…] condemns himself out of his own mouth” (171). The imagery that the Duke gives of his wife further showcases his possessive nature.
Browning’s use of imagery further adds to the possessive nature of the Duke. The Duke talks about his wife’s love of riding her “white mule” (28) in the courtyard and watching the sunset, which paints a picture of a young woman who enjoyed life – who had a mind of her own outside of the Duke.
The Duchess is an ideal Duchess and an ideal wife, at that. She is appreciative, composed and collected, and enjoys things of beauty. But not to the Duke, a beast who is both “greedy and cruel” (Phelps, 186), who detested the Duchess because she smiled too much to please him and “she had a heart…/too soon made glad” (21-22).
The possessive nature of the Duke is seen in the art he collects and the way he displays it. The poem starts with the Duke simply describing the Duchess “…painted on the wall (1).” He speaks of the painter, Fra Pandolf, the animation of the portrait “looking as if she were alive” (2), and even shows some esteem for the portrait since he is the only one that can see the image.
But, reading between the lines, one senses the aura of a commanding man. He describes the Duchess as “my last duchess,” and according to Joseph A. Dupras, if you stress, accent, and pause over this phrase, a clear image comes to mind of a man who “reduces a woman [to mere] collectables […] that are […] replaceable” (4).
A mere object that he controlled and wanted others to admire his domination over her. He called her portrait a “piece” (3) – a rather coarse term, perhaps used to portray her as a sexual object. Possibly the most dramatic imagery in the poem is given towards the end of the poem, when he invites his guest to admire his statue of Neptune taming a horse by the artist Innsbruck. The subject of the sculpture deepens the negative reaction readers have of the Duke.
Here, once again, is an image of a powerful man taming a horse, much like he tamed and silenced his last duchess. The allusion to the Claus of Innsbruck, writes Lancashire, captures another image of the Duke taming his wife, just like Fra Pandolf captured in his painting “a place / joy” (15-16) for which the Duke can cover and expose as he pleases (6).
In his dramatic soliloquy, Browning manages to capture the possessive and tyrannizing features of the Duke. Furthermore, through the use of grammatical techniques, irony, and imagery, Browning further establishes these traits. Through the enjambments, caesura, and heroic verses, the cold and calculating tone of the Duke is created.
Through irony, readers are forced to “read between the lines” to reveal the Duke’s true opinions of his last duchess. And last, but not least, imagery allows the readers to see the last duchess as a good woman and the Duke as calculating and evil.
