GCSE English Literature

1. Emma Bird
My Last Duchess
The poem “My Last Duchess” shows the narrators paranoid yet arrogant state upon the
death of his late wife. The poem is written as a conversation between Duke Alfonso II who
ruled a place in northern Italy called Ferrara between 1559 and 1597. The Duchess that
the poem mentions was his first wife, Lucrezia de' Medici who died in 1561 aged 17, only
two years after into marriage. In reality, Lucrezia died in suspicious circumstances and it
was expected that she might have been poisoned.
The narrator of the poem is having a conversation with someone about his late wife, and
explaining how he believed she was unfaithful to him. The line “how shall i say? - too soon
made glad, too easily impressed” makes out that he is talking ill of her in such a way that
seems almost seems patronising, like he seems to know what is right and that his morals
are the correct ones. The narrator is speaking to a stranger, this is quite inappropriate
conversation. He essentially accuses his late wife of being unfaithful but Browning has
encouraged us to dislike the Duke so much already that it is easy to think he was at fault
or is paranoid about what could have been her naïvety. The narrators arrogance is made
to seem very apparent throughout the poem in example he talks about his possessions
and worldly goods, and also uses the word “my” when talking about the duchess, saying
that he owned her. The narrator says about how she tried to hide her unfaithful ways, how
she smiled at him when he passed her, but also how his knowledge was superior and how
he knew anyway, showing this arrogant trait again.
The author Robert Browning uses this poem to put across this message that although this
man has wealth and is royalty, his arrogance has cost him his wife. he might have a
wonderful house, terrace, orchard, paintings and statues but his paranoia about his late
wife comes across and reflects his insecurity. In real life, Duke Alfonso II married three
times and didn't produce an heir to his fortune.
The poems shows similarities to that of the poem “ozymandias”. There is a running theme
of arrogant natures in both, and in both we can see the remains of a boast made that has
since been contradicted by itself. In “ozymandias” it shows his arrogance in a state of worn
away stone, contrasted with the barron landscape shows the irony of a once great
kingdom. In “My last duchess” we can see that all of the dukes possessions have no
consequence to his happiness and how even because of his great name and wealth he
still cannot succeed in marriage.