[104] My Last Duchess
Guest poem sent in by Pavithra Krishnan <pavikaye@>
That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will 't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps
Frà Pandolf chanced to say, "Her mantle laps
Over my Lady's wrist too much," or "Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat"; such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart . . . how shall I say? . . . too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace--all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,--good; but thanked
Somehow . . . I know not how . . . as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech--(which I have not)--to make your will
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 made excuse,
--E'en then would be some stooping; and I chuse
Never to stoop. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will 't please you rise? We'll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your Master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go
Together down, Sir! Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me.
-- Robert Browning
|
I think this one is Great. A dramatic monologue and also the aristocratic,
unapologetic explanation of a poikilothermic murderer. You read this poem
as partial victim of the Duke's chillingly warped sense of reality. This is
not Evil revelling in itself- but Evil masquerading as Righteousness...
Deliciously creepy. The brutal arrogance of the supremely egotistical Duke
and his veneer of consummate refinement are brought out masterfully in that
telling line- "..and I choose/ Never to stoop." The 'inconclusive-ness' of
the piece leaves the reader in horrified suspense (a pretty innovative
decision on Browning's part- the use of open-endings as a technique had yet
to catch on). A virtuoso performance by a fascinating character,an
exquisitely handled script, and a title that is a dangerous revelation in
itself.
Pavithra Krishnan
From: kjacobs@
Who is Claus of Innsbruck?
From: "Ramon Barredo" <barredo@>
the shoulh have an explanation of every lines or stanza of every poems.
From: "Exo Milano" <exo.milano@>
From: GrymReapa@
<PRE>because of prats like these i have to suffer a freakin literature a level not
knowing wat the fuck people like hi m are fucking talking about
From: GrymReapa@
<PRE>wtf
From: YanksRNotDun@
I think that an explication of each line would be great!
From: "MRS DELLA ROBINSON" <robbosoz@>
Like any Italian man, I think he suffers from acute jealousy!
From: "Kersten" <lizzy_m3@>
the Claus of Innsbruck is an imaginary sculptor like Fra Pandolf is an
imaginary monk painter
From: "Billy" <billyf@>
fra pandolph and claus of innsbruck are actually real people look it up
if u dont believe me
From: "Jeremy" <jbotto@>
Here is an almost line-for-line explanation of Robert Browning's poem for us Brit. Lit. lamens. We hope that the webmaster understands exactly how difficult this poem is to grasp with just one reading, because of Browning's evasive style of writing (He doesn't like to use too many nouns. And also rarely puts drammatic dialog in quotations.) And alows this submission to stand. Before reading: The narrator is speeking to an observer in an upstairs room, where he mourns a Duchess' death. The body isn't really a cadavar, but close to one. At the time that this poem was written, photographs took a very long time to take, and so many were photographed in death.Lines 1-2: Picture a dead woman, laying on a wall.Lines 2-4: Frà Pandolf is a fictitious artist who works with cadavars--he dresses dead people, and takes their pictures.Lines 5-7: (very important) The Narrator directly addresses a person who is viewing the dead body, asking him to sit down and hear the story of the corps
e's expression.Lines 7-8: Many strangers viewing the dead woman looked at her corpse and appeared to be shocked. The narrator attributes it to her odd smile, in death. Lines 9-12: Because the narrator is the only one next to the cadavar (Putting the curtain.) Everyone looks to him for an explanation--"Why does this dead woman look so strange, and so 'passionate', 'earnest'? Dead people don't usually look this way."Lines 12-21: The Last Duchess' smile is acknowledged most generously, here, and told to be a result of an internal happiness. There are a few quotes from Frà Pandolf, saying that her smile was unduplicateable.Lines 21-23: The Last Duchess was very happy at a young age, because of her good heart. (this is soon to be explained.)Lines 23-24: "She enjoys EVERYTHING that she LOOKS AT (with her eyeballs.) And her "eyeballs" were often WANDERING!--This is logic. A<->B;C+D If she looks everywhere, and likes everything she looks at--then she likes a lot of stu
ff, and has a good heart. Or if she likes a lot of stuff, and looks everywhere--then she likes a lot of stuff, and has a good heartLines 28-30: The Last Duchess used to ride a white mule around a terrace(Or an outdoor patio.) It's like a place to eat at a golfclub. It was a common activity amongst Brit. women, because they were pretty much held captive at the time, and all of the men liked to watch their breasts jiggle up and down as riding.--No stuff! Lines 31-33: The transition from "She thanked men" to "--good" is like saying, "GOOD!" in a very psychotic tone. The narrator kind of stumbles over his words, because he kind of feels horny and angry at the same time, like a psycho. So, anyway, he's angry because the duchess just throws out snide thank you's, as though she is so special, and has ancestory behind her.Lines 34-41: Pardon the prejudice tone, but the narrator's excuse for misogamy is kind of lame, seeing that he isn't even intelligent enough, nor outgoing eno
ugh to confront the Duchess, and say that she is making herself up more than she was made to be.Lines 42-45: The narrator says that when he passes the Duchess he was smiled at, and a smile grew upon him, upon seeing it. Then he stumbles over his words again. He says, "This grew;" (Picture a pause in speach. This grew... irritating) "I gave commands;" (A pause. "I gave commands for her to shut up, and quit smiling!) The narrator almost uses being a general as an excuse, because generals orders are meant to be taken seriously.Lines 46-47: All of the smiles stopped, because of this odd speach, and the narrator tells whoever is lending him an ear that it might be a good time to get up.Lines 48-53: The narrator decides that he will travel downstairs with his newly aquired friend, where "The Count" will accept any munificence (Necessary lies.) that he has to put forth. Then the narrator will proceed to court "The Count"'s daughter, and take her for what she is worth "dowr
y".Lines 54-56: Before going downstairs, the narrator comments upon a nice peice of artwork that is also in this room with his dead Duchess' picture. A picture of Neptune, a God, drawn by Claus of Innsbruck (A fictitious painter.)Hope you enjoy, feel free to edit--to a point. Remember that this is a personal view, and many interpretations have been made. Thank you for reading, sorry about any typos.XXO,Jeremy
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From: Angela Maxwell <armmtm@>
Sorry Jeremy, you are incorrect in a few of your suppositions on this poem. First of all, they are not looking at an actual dead woman, or even the photograph of one, they are looking at the painting of her when she was alive. If it was actually a photograph of a dead person, the duke would not comment about the blush on her cheeks or passion in her eyes that could have been caused by something as simple as a compliment from Fra Pandolf (lines 16-21). Obviously, a dead woman cannot blush in response to a compliment, so the reader knows that the Duchess is alive at the time the painting was created. Secondly, by reading the end of the poem carefully, one can discern that the Duke is not talking to a mourner, but the the agent of the Count, whose daughter he is planning to make his new Duchess. In lines 29-53, he says that "The Count your master's (lets you know that he is talking to someone under the command of the Duke) known munificence (known wealth) Is ample warrant
that no just pretence Of mine for dowry will be disallowed; (is so great that I know that anything I asked in the way of dowry, bridal payment paid to the husband by the bride's father, would be easy for you to give me) Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed At starting, is my object.( But like I told you when we first started talking about marriage, my objective is to obtain his daughter in marriage, not money.) This clearly lets you know that the Duke is searching for a new wife, and not at the funeral of his former Duchess. Thirdly, you stated that those looking at the picture were shocked, that is also not the exact reading of those lines. He says that strangers, if they saw the expression on her face, would be curious about it, but no one except him opens up the curtains, and of the few that have seen it, only a few have dared to ask him about the passionate expression on her face (lines 7-13). There are to many other mistakes in your critique of this poem, a
nd it would take entirely to long to point every single one of them out, so I just suggest that others who read this poem ignore Jeremy's interpretations as the unsubstantiated ramblings of ignorance.
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From: "Raji Rao" <reijii@>
I would like to second Angela in this regard, as you can see in lines 35-43
the Duke expresses his disgust over the Duchess' behavior with other men. In
the previous lines(31-34) he also talks about how unaware he was in the way
the Duchess used to thank the other men and rank his "gift of a
nine-hundred-years-old name" -- meaning the power and position the Duchess
has acquired due to marrying him. In lines 35-43 the Duke explains that he
never wanted to stoop down to point out the Duchess way of behaviour as
uncouth.
Hence we can say that lines 43-45, shows that the Duchess was more of a
flirt. The Duke says that he got the same smile from the Duchess as anyone
else would've, who ever passed her. So we can conclude from lines 45&46 --
"This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together" that the Duke
arranged for the Duchess to be murdered. Here the Duke is depicted both as a
cold-blooded murdered as well as an aesthete. From this point of view it is
interesting to note that the poem both begins and ends with descriptions of
works of art.
The speaker in the poem is Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. The poem is based on
incidents from his life. His young wife, Lucrezia, died in 1561. Following
her death the Duke negotiated through an agent to marry a niece of the Count
of Tyrol.
Rajeshwari Subbu Rao
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From: "Jeremy" <jbotto@>
Perhaps a few things were wrong, but someone had to step up and take a
swing at it.
I would like to express that I am very happy you critiqued that, hehe,
critique for me. I did not look at the poem for long, or study the way
that it was written. So--right, it had to be one sent from the Duke,
because at the end it describes whoever is being shown the portraite is
an onlooker sent from the duke. However, whether it is a picture or a
painting is hardly controvesial--they are the same thing. Also, the
passion is irrelivent to the blush drawn into the picture. "Her
husband's presence only, called that spotOf joy into the Duchess' cheek:
perhapsFrà Pandolf chanced to say, "Her mantle lapsOver my Lady's wrist
too much," or "PaintMust never hope to reproduce the faintHalf-flush
that dies along her throat"; such stuffWas courtesy, she thought, and
cause enoughFor calling up that spot of joy." This basically means that
there was an odd spot of joy in the Last Duchess' cheek. Blush does not
have to be a verb. It is odd that the painter drew her in such a way.
I submitted this survey not for aprooval, but for analysis, as I stated
at end. If you feel that the people were not shocked at the picture
(And it was a picture, dipshit.) fine, feel that way all you want. Your
reading and mine are different. Many people would feel akward to see a
stubby little man in front of a curtain waiting for people to come by so
he could read them a bedtime story about the dead woman behind it. The
point of adding a comment is not to be exactly right, it is to get other
people's mind's working so that they will add. On that note, what the
hell is wrong with you? A person uses a few colorful verbs for picture
to add a third dimention to a reader's eye and you flip out? We
probably agree about most of this anyway. We both say that the narrator
is going to go marry the count's daughter. Just because you are some
deranged feminist it does not give you the right to attack the way I
feel about a poem. Keep your feelings about other people to yourself,
there are plenty of others who can read this poem all for themselves and
decide on what they believe. (Asshole.)Note: If it is surrounded by
brackets, feel free to delete what I said. If you do not, oh well. The
person who responded deserves it.
From: "Jan Janssen" <jjanssen@>
I have read that he is "an unidentified or imaginary sculptor. The count
of Tyrol had his capital at Innsbruck."
Jan Janssen
From: "Henisey, Allison M" <Allison.M.Henisey@>
Jeremy,
This is one of my favorite poems (perhaps that makes me an "asshole" too),
and I wanted to thank you for your lovely and amusingly idiotic review. Not
only did you prove yourself to be a complete ignoramus, but you brought a
new "dimention" to my enjoyment of Browning's work. I commend you for your
valuable insight, yet wonder how far interpretation can go before it becomes
utterly, laughably wrong. Furthermore... do you accuse every female who
expresses herself in a fair and educated manner as being a "deranged
feminist"?
From: "Miranda" <Sasoriza28@>
Actually Jeremy's interpretation has helped me understand some of the
poem, so get off his ass.Somebody had to give some interpretation.it is
his view and you shouldn't be a bitch because he sees something
differently from you. No body else posted their view of the poem because
opinionated bitches (like Angela). Also, back off with the feminist BS.
you can be well educated with out being a bitch.
Miranda
From: NyraMHSzish@
WOW! I was shocked at the comments I read on here. I just wanted to read
opinions of others about the poem, not personal attacks. Aren't we all adults
here? Many thanks to everyone who had input on My Last Duchess. Different points
of view really do help sometimes. -- Nyra
From: Baglows@
hey people,
Just wanna say that that Jeremy guy helped me get an A in my English
Literature homework, I was searching for hours on the net for something like that and
he saved my life, all you ignorant lazy pople out there who say that he is
wrong can shut the hell up, i mean come on! I would love to see u smart arses
give a go at doing a better interpretation! Go on! I dares yer! Ur pathetic...
Peace,
Ta jeremy
From: "elaine EAMES" <Eames@>
Everyones entitled to their opinion - poetry has different meanings to
different people.
How has everyone interpreted the duchess?
She is put forward in the poem as a flirt:
"Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er i passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile?"
But this poem is written with the Duke as the writer and so i feel that
all that is said about her he has said to cover his jealously, to put
the blame on her, as an excuse for harming her.
From: Playerpads@
What sex is Fra Pandorf? I'm so confused. How did Fra paint the painting?
From: Playerpads@
Are you 100% sure Fra Pandorf is an imaginary monk painter?
From: "1 jan ellsworth" <ellsjan@>
"Claus of Innsbruck" and "Fra Pandolf" are types rather than specific
artists. The speaker, Alfonso II d'Este is a specific person, yes.
Even the events parallel historical events, but its emphasis is rather
on truth to Renaissance attitudes than on historic specificity. So, to
spend too much time dwelling on their actual existence is useless. They
represent a time period that Browning explores.
From: My3sons450@
I just want to say thanx to jeremy for taking a shot at it. You got courage.
I really helped me out because of the others who critiqued it. Thank you.
- University Student
From: "Richard Chase" <workshop@>
All I'm gonna say in critique of jeremy, is that he says in those days,
photograpghs took very long to take. This is true, but it is also true
that in those days, photographs were only black and white. No colour at
all. Therefore, it must be a painting that the speaker and his guest are
viewing. There is no way that the spot of joy could have been
photographed. Then the line "Paint must never hope to reproduce" plainly
gives away that Fra Pandolf is working with paint. Also can I direct
your attention to the FIRST line of the poem? "That's my last Duchess
PAINTED on the wall" Your analisys of the poem was unique, and called up
a lot of critisism, and it got everybody to look cqarefully for ways to
criticise what you said. This is certainly afresh view on the poem. And
it was good of you to take a shot at it.
From: "Tony Rymer" <trymer@>
the half-flush that dies along her throat- i think is intended to mean
that she was blushing over the painter. like they were flirting with
each other. and the narrator is jealous. also the person he is speaking
to is a servant- he is refered to as a stranger but it is also odd that
he is asked to sit but that is probably bcos he is a messenger for the
count whose daughter the speaker wishes to marry.
the fact that the speaker is the only one who has access to the
painting, shows that he now has total control of the duchess (since none
puts by the curtain i have drawn for you but i) because before she
flirted with everyone (as if she ranked my gift of a
nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift) also the speaker thought his wife trivial and
childish (too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; and The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace--all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech)
also someone said earlier that she was murdered by the speaker but
although that is likely she may have just be sent away to a nunnery or
something as her outcome is not specified.
also the last few lines about Neptune taming a sea-horse is all about
male dominance- about how the speaker now controls the last duchess (as
he is the only one with access to her smile).....
anyway i just thought i'd add my comments,
-yr11 student
From: Japsmcmenemy@
heya im reading dsi poem for ma english coursework and i fink lyk uvas dat
it is hard to understand butit is not a reason lyk sum ppl not mentioning n e
names (grymreaper) u jus dont get poetry so shut up well done to robert
browing
From: StevensR@ Thu Mar 3 16:02:38 2005
Wow, people. Calm down all of you. I can only repeat what my English
teacher says to us the whole time:
'If you can back your point up with textual analysis, you are right.'
The fact that she says this every lesson
is annoying, but the idea's right. So Jeremy is right (except about the
dead woman- but I like his creepy
imagination), and so are the rest of you. I really liked Jeremy's
comments, by the way, and however you
interpret it, you have to say that My Last Duchess is a great poem.
From: leer@
I must thank everyone commenting the poem, it has been great eye-openers!!
I am writing with the hope that someone might explain to me (a dane trying
to fathom the depths of this interesting poem) the meaning of the lines:
5 ..................................I said
6 "Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
7 Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
That pictured countenance... never read strangers... I don´t understand...
Does it mean that it is a picture of a person with the status of a countess?
And unread strangers... does that mean an ignorant person? ... and if so
ignorant because he is a stranger or an ignorant and a stranger..
I hope for help!
Thanx Lee Robinson, Denmark
From: "jamie" <jamie_reeve_1989@>
just like to say thanks for your interpretation of my last
duchess,really helped me understand the poenm more,and angela can fcuk
off.cheers old lad.jamie
From: "Cleo Papa-Adams" <cpadams@>
It makes no sens and I have to annotate it
From: "Luigi" <lxluigixl@>
Thank you guys for your comments; it's helped me a lot. Jeremey: good job in
taking a shot at it, it's helped me out the way you looked at it, but like
Angelina said and clarified, that isn't a dead woman; at a period of time
like the Renaissance was, painting and art were the main sibjects and fields
that arose during that time,photographs were even important till around
1730s, when the first real photograpgh was introduced. So thank you Angela
too for ur clarification.
I think this poem, besides its important of setting (Italy during
Renaissance), it focuses more on character than anything. Like many of the
comments I have read, the Duke is totally possesive, cold, and without a
heart. And of course, we see the Duchess more of a nice lady, but goes a
little bit off the limit as "according to him", she flirts and "wanders"
around.
By the way, I'm 16 yrs old taking a literature course at a college. You
guys who are constantely cursing: please stop and GROW up, we are all
critics, we have different views of certain things, and so we can as well
critic other people for their criticism; dont take everything personally.
Luis M.
From: SmilyPres100@
How do pretext and context illuminate the poems meaning?
From: "Margaret Konikkara" <mkonikkara@>
tho the duke speaks about the duchess we get a lot of info about the
duke too.
and i wud like to differ from the concept that the duke was a pig headed
aristocrat.
what relation did the dchess have with the official fool that he was
free enough to present her with the bough of cherries.
i think the duchess is an immature flirtacious wife who failed to under
stand and hence got killed.
from the duke lines it is clear that ususlly people stand in awe of him
and that comes out of respect
anothe point is that a generous count's daugheters proposal came to him,
which if he were bad wudnt come
and moreover he was decent enough to warn the envoy that this and this
in expeceted of ur mistress or else she shal be killed.
the beauty of the poem i think lies n its symbolization of the the
uderlying meaning the taming neptune and its similarity wid the
controlling attitude of duke is simply too ovely for wordsif u liked
this poem try readind brownings The Bishop Orders His Tomb
margaret
From: Hilary Kerrod <kerrod@>
He explains that "..She had
A heart . . . how shall I say? . . . too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere..."
This sounds a bit more of a Lady Di, Princess of Hearts type to me.
He goes on to say:".... Even had you skill
In speech--(which I have not)--to make your will
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 made excuse,
--E'en then would be some stooping; and I chuse
Never to stoop."
I take this as meaning that he would not bring himself to tell her to
develop more reserve with others. That would be demeaning himself. It was
easier and better to dispose of her.
I think the message to the ambassador is that the marriage he is now
arranging is to be one of convenience and the young woman must know how to
behave as a proper Duchess.
It is cool to see so many passionate and diverse opinions about the poem.
Hilary
From: "Natasha Walker" <bubbleangel_999@>
hey every1 i just wantd 2 say cheers 4 every1 hoo explaind the poem in
many different ways, it relly helped me with ma homewurk! i cood even
tell the teacher things she didnt kno bout it! thanx agen
sally x
From: "Sally Morrison" <sallymorrison@>
hey i jus wantd 2 add my coments..
i dont actually think that the duke was intrested in art, as he makes out.
The Counts servant, is in quite a high up job as the duke addresses him as
"sir", and so wants 2 impress him, and also because he wants 2 marry the
Counts daughter and wants to make a good impression. But i feel that the
Duke is extremely pretentious, and doesn't like art as much as he makes out.
He makes sure whenever he talks about art, that he mentions some famous guy
who painted it speshially for him, e.g fra pandolf and claus of innsbruck,
because he thinks so highly of himself, and thinks he is so important that
he wants 2 make sure the servant knows this.
lol x x
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