My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Part of the AQA Poetry Anthology, Power and Conflict
Analyse the poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning to understand the use of form, structure and poetic devices and how these relate to the underlying themes within the poem.
We’ve captured all of the points below in our PDF guide which you can download below.
Where to start
Analysing poetry can be a little daunting at first, and you may need to read it a few times before you understand what the poet is trying to say. Don’t worry though, you will soon get used to it and start to understand how to approach analysing a poem.
It’s important that you use the version of the poem from your anthology when doing your analysis. The layout of some poems can differ from publication to publication (particularly over the internet) – perhaps some words will have been changed or the stanzas may be set out differently. This can affect the analysis. So, always work from the version set out in your anthology as this is how the poem will be laid out in your exam.
When analysing the poem try to do a little research on the poet themselves. It is not strictly necessary but understanding a little about them and their background can provide some helpful context to the poem which can be useful in your analysis.
Download a clean copy of ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning using the button opposite. Use this to mark up with your own notes using the analysis below.
About the poet - Robert Browning
- Browning was born in 1812 in Camberwell, a middle-class suburb of London. He was home-schooled, using his father’s vast library as the basis for his education.
- He decided at a very young age that he would like to be a poet, and his father was very supportive of him.
- At the age of just twelve he wrote his first book of poetry, but he didn’t become published until he was in his 20’s.
- He is knows for his dramatic monologues, but also as a children’s writer (he wrote “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”.)
- Browning had very liberal views and firmly opposed slavery and he supported the emancipation of women.
- He lived in England until 1845 when he moved to Italy with his wife, Elizabeth Barrett.
- Their marriage was initially kept secret as Elizabeth’s father was very domineering and disapproved.
Robert Browning. (2023, June 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browning
Background to the poem
- The poem was written in 1842, shortly after Browning first visited Italy.
- Whilst the poem may have been written in the Victorian era, the poem is set within the Renaissance period (14th-16th century).
- During the Victorian period attitudes towards women were changing, though women were very much still viewed as the property of their father until they were married, at which point they became the property of their husband.
- We know that Browning was a strong supporter of the emancipation of women and it is thought that he based the poem in an earlier period to emphasise the changing role of women.
What is the poem about?
- “My Last Duchess” is a poem primarily about the role of women in society.
- It is written as a dramatic monologue, with the speaker, “The Duke” telling his companion about a portrait of his previous wife, that is hanging on the wall.
- Throughout the poem the Duke does not speak favourably of her, noting that she did not act like a wife should.
- Browning portrays the Duke as boastful and controlling and implies that he had her killed because she did not fulfil her role well.
- At the end of the poem Browning reveals that the ‘companion’ who the Duke has been talking to is the servant to a rich man, whose daughter the Duke plans to marry.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
So now we know that the poem is about let’s analyse how Browning uses poetic devices to tell his story.
Form and Structure
The poem is written as a dramatic monologue; the entire poem is written as a speech, given by ‘The Duke’. As the reader, we only hear things from the Duke’s perspective which allows us to draw inferences about his character, his attitudes and his purpose.
The style of the dramatic monologue is very appropriate in the Power and Conflict anthology as here, the Duke has all the power.
Image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay
- Browning wrote ‘My Last Duchess’ in iambic pentameter, where every other syllable is stressed. This gives the poem a sort of marching-beat-rhythm.
- There are a number of ways to interpret this (1) a marching beat is a very controlled, purposeful rhythm. Rather like the Duke himself would intend us to believe? (2) the rhythm mimics the marching on of time; reflecting that attitudes are changing.
- The poem is written entirely in rhyming couplets (lines 1 and 2 rhyme, as do lines 3 and 4 etc). This emphasises the feeling of control to the reader; the Duke is telling the story his way and will not waiver.
- However, very subtly Browning uses a number of poetic devices to infer that the Duke is not perhaps as controlled as he may first appear – that it is all a facade.
- The first sign of this is in the overall structure of the poem. It is written as one long, unbroken verse with no separate stanzas. Again there are a number of ways to interpret this:
- (1) This style supports the nature of the poem, which is a monologue. It is unbroken and uninterrupted, again emphasising the theme of power.
- (2) The fact that the poem just keeps on going, without breaking, makes the reader feel overwhelmed; it gives the impression that the Duke is rambling, that maybe he is not as controlled as he would appear.
- This is supported by Browning’s use of enjambment (where a sentence continues after the end of a line) and caesura (where a sentence ends mid-line). Again, this supports the fact that the poem is a speech, but also supports the implication that the Duke is not as controlled as he may think.
Use of language
- The painting of the Duchess is hidden behind a curtain, so the Duke can control who sees it. This is a metaphor for the control the Duke wanted over his wife. With the painting behind a curtain he can control who she smiles at.
- “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,” the ‘my’ pronoun is repeated through the poem to emphasise that the Duke saw the Duchess as a possession.
- The Duke namedrops twice in the poem, demonstrating his vanity and wealth and eagerness to be envied (Fra Pandolf and Claus of Innsbruck).
- The Duke tells us that the painting was painted by ‘Fra Pandolf’. The ‘Fra’ indicates that this is a religious figure. This is the poets way of showing that the promiscuity of the Duchess which the Duke refers to (“her looks went everywhere”) did not exist; the Duke had no real reason to be jealous.
- The Duke addresses the servant he is speaking to as ‘Sir’ and ‘you’. At the time the poem was written these were formal terms of address which emphasise the Duke’s superiority and make him appear condescending.
- “My gift of a nine-hundred-year old name” shows the Duke is proud and feels his wife should have been more grateful to become part of his family.
- “Which I have not”. This shows the Duke is disingenuous. He is telling the servant that he is not a skilled speaker, whilst all the time speaking formally, in perfect iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets.
“I gave commands” “Will’t please you rise”. These quotes show the controlling nature of the Duke..
Themes and comparisons
If you’re presented with this poem in the exam you will be asked to compare it to one of the other poems from the anthology in some way. You may also decide to use it as the comparison poem. To do this you need to think about the themes that are presented in the poem and which other poems in the anthology have similar themes. We’ve summarised these briefly below.
Power
The poem shows how the Duke held power of his wife and wanted to hold power over others.
Compare to:
- Ozymandias
- London
- The Prelude
- Kamikaze
- Tissue
- The Emigree
Oppression/Discrimination
The poem emphasises the attitudes to women in the Victorian era, where they were viewed as possessions.
Compare to:
- Ozymandias
- London
- Charge of the Light Brigade
- Bayonet Charge
- Checking out me History
- Kamikaze
Corruption
Browning writes the poem from the perspective of the Duke, which shows him in a less-than-noble light.
Compare to:
- London
- Ozymandias
- Charge of the Light Brigade
What next?
We hope you’ve found this analysis useful, but please remember that we all interpret things differently. Just because we’ve read it one way, does not that it can not have an alternative meaning. Remember that when you’re reading it through – you could pick up on something totally different and that’s fine. There is no right or wrong interpretation of a poem – as long as you can analyse and justify why the poem makes you feel a certain way then there are marks to be had in an exam.
We have prepared a PDF summary sheet containing all of the information on this page which you may find useful when revising. Use this when reading the poem again and make your own notes and highlights. You can download it by clicking on the link below.
This site is constantly developing and we’ll be uploading more content as quickly as we can.
If you’d like to be kept up to date sign up to our newsletter opposite (we promise not to share your details with anyone).
Other Resources
This is a list of resources we’ve found really useful as we’ve been researching. Some of these are free, but some are paid resources. Please note that we do not earn any commission if you choose to purchase using the links below. There’s also some more of our resources below for you to download.
- Mr Bruff – he has some great resources on YouTube and through his website mrbuff.com.
- Collins Snap Revision book from Amazon
- PoemAnalysis
- savemyexams
- Tips on how to manage exam stress
- Tips on how to revise