Finding ourselves being given a tour of a grand home for the first time, by the owner himself, and being told, "That's my last wife painted on the wall," how would we react? We might think, "How odd he didn't say her name. I wonder what happened ...", or at least we might wonder until he finished his sentence with "Looking as if she were alive." This clause, also sounding peculiar, tells us two things. The Duchess looks out at us, the viewers, directly from the painting; and her depiction there is life-like, that is, we might be looking at a living person rather than a work of art. Yet wouldn't Ferrara say "life-like" or "true to life," if that was simply what he meant? His choice of words may suggest that, while she, the Duchess herself (rather than her image in the painting), looks alive, she may be dead; and the phrase "last Duchess" echoes in our working memory. Do we know for sure? Does "she" mean the Duchess or her painting?
When discussing the poem's content, there are many things we know for certain and many others that are questionable. We know that the Duchess died suspiciously and that the Duke is in the process of looking for a new wife. He is speaking to a messenger about a painting of his now deceased wife. The Duke, of course, is casting himself in a favorable light and is presenting his best side. He wants to make it look as if his wife was cheating on him and was unfaithful to him. He is very controlling, and could not control her and her smiles. This smile was what the Duke likes the most about the painting of the Duchess--he feels that the painter accurately captured the smile and the vivacity of the Duchess. Now that the Duke owns this painting and has placed it behind a curtain, he can at last control who is graced with her smile.
I feel that Ferrara betrays his obsessions by nervous mannerisms. He repeats words associated with the Duchess: the phrases `as if ... alive", `there she stands', `Will't please you', and `called/calling ... that spot of joy', `look,' variously inflected, `glance' `thanked' `gift', `stoop', `smile', and `pass'. These words define his speech but also his mind, circling back to the same topic again and again. He takes pride in saying, "I repeat". He also obsesses about his height, relative to others. He stands because the Duchess stands on the wall, and he requires his listener to sit, to rise, and to walk downstairs with him side-by-side. Lastly, Ferrara needs to control the eyes of others. He curtains off the Duchess' portrait to prevent her from looking "everywhere." He tells his listener to look at her and to "Notice Neptune."
Aspects of The Duke which I feel remain unclear include his true character. As mentioned, he is presenting his best side, but through his speech the reader sees how he is very jealous and controlling, which leads one to believe that he may have many dishonorable qualities. Another ambiguous quality about the Duke is his historical character. The poem clearly references the historical Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, whose first wife died suspiciously within two years of their marriage. We know that Browning's Duke has a 900-year-old name of which he is very proud, and, based on his collection of paintings and sculptures, that he was an patron of the arts.
I liked the fact that Browning uses many techniques, including a simple rhyme scheme, enjambment, and caesura to convey various characteristics and qualities about the speaker and the situation. Browning uses an AA BB rhyme scheme, which is very common to ballads. The frigid decorum of the Duke is established by the imperceptible, but unfailing, rhyming couplets and I felt that this also enhances the irony of the speaker's later comment that he does not have "skill / In speech". The enjambement indicates the control that the speaker is exerting on the conversation and gives the feeling that the speaker is rushing through parts of the poem. When the Duke is speaking of the death of his wife, for example, the lines running over suggest that he is nervous about the subject. The caesuras also suggest to the reader that he is hiding something or that he is pausing to think.
I enjoyed reading the poem and felt that "My Last Duchess" both measures and crosses the boundaries between perceiving subject and perceived object to complement or repeat the way its speaker charms its auditor. Always knowing his place, the envoy must study his host's revelations (or insinuations) tacitly. The painting is the focus of the poem.
I feel that in all likelihood, the Duke will not succeed in marrying the Count of Tyrol’s daughter because the envoy/messenger will warn his master about the dangerous possessiveness of the prospective son-in-law.
I think that another positive aspect of the poem was the fact that Browning allows the reader to asses the Duke for themselves. I as the reader could see that such powerful Renaissance rulers were ruthless and greedy. I also saw how jealousy and possessiveness can destroy things that we love the most.
I think that framing his former wife is a way for the Duke to prevent the count's daughter from misinterpreting him. His absolute rule will allow him to prescribe her behavior, but he depends on the count's representative to convey his indelicate hints about propriety better than he could verbally respond to the last duchess's miscues.
I feel that in the poem there is pain, jealousy, rejection and happiness. The majority of the spectrum of emotions associated with love and marriage is contained by this piece.