Murder... mystery... intrigue... All describe Robert Browning's
poem, "My Last Duchess." From the speakers's indirect allusions to the
death of his wife the reader might easily think that the speaker
committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. His flowery speech confuses
and disguises any possible motives, however, and the mystery is left
unsolved. Based on the poem's style, structure, and historical
references, it becomes evident that even if the speaker did not directly
kill his wife, he certainly had something to hide.
The style and structure of this poem play a significant role in the
effect of the poem. As is typical of Browning's poems, "My Last
Duchess" is written as a dramatic monologue: one speaker relates the
entire poem as if to another person present with him. This format suits
this poem particularly well because the speaker, taken to be the Duke of
Ferrara, comes across as being very controlling, especially in
conversation. For......
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Approximate Word Count: 311
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |