Quick Character Analysis: Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess"

"My Last Duchess" is one of the most famous and most widely taught poems written by Robert Browning. In his poem, Browning does more than relate a loosely historical story to the reader; he also explores concepts of class and relationship issues, such as vanity, jealousy, violence, and control. Through analyzing the actions and speech of the Duke, one can form a quick character analysis of both his character as well as character of the late Duchess in Browning's "My Last Duchess" using the information given by in the Duke's monologue, as well as the information interpreted by the reader.

Where to Read or Listen to Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess"

An educational video reading of "My Last Duchess": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Nv0mrpWUE

A line numbered copy of the poem: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/288.html

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-last-duchess/

A Character Analysis of the Duchess: What the Duke's View Reveals

In "My Last Duchess," the speaker is the Duke, and his voice controls the portrayal of the dead wife as he allows the agent in charge of his new marriage to look at her prized portrait. As described by the Duke, the Duchess is the painting, an object of beauty over which he claims ownership. The couple's previous relationship is revealed in this factor: the Duke feels that the time he spent with her is equal to his time spent observing a work of art. The Duchess, in life, was more than a pretty object meant only for his eyes, which is the reason for her death/murder.

While the Duke describes her as "too soon made glad" (22), as if she was a woman anxious to catch the attention of flirtatious men, the Duchess may have not been guilty of adulterous thoughts. The Duke hints that she was overly friendly, but he gives no evidence that she was ever unfaithful. To the Duke, her unfaithfulness was her inability to raise him on an aristocrat's pedestal and put him before all others like the lord and master he deemed himself. Through this observance, one can conclude that the Duchess's disregard for her social status was a key factor in her demise, and perhaps, based on the Duke's words, a greater factor than the possibility of adultery. The Duchess was, as the new Duchess will be, a woman arranged to marry a man she did not love, and, while she seemed to afford him respect, she did not afford him the respect of a Duke. The reader can conclude that she was not a character obsessed with her high social standing or in great awe of her husband.

A Character Analysis of the Duke: A Man Ruled by Narcissism

The Duke's portrayal of the Duchess is influenced by his narcissistic view of himself and all that he considers his possessions, including his dead wife. The Duke's obsession is with himself and with his collection of beautiful things and people, as noted in his need to point out his possessions and their famed creators, such as the painting of the Duchess by Fra Pandolf and a figure of Neptune "which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze" (56) for the Duke. The Duke is defined by his obsessions and his consequential behavior towards people who refuse to be owned. While the Duchess lived, his obsession would not allow him to see past her misbehavior and her inability to treat him like a Duke. The Duke, in reflection of her, complains that she accepted the gifts of others as politely as she accepted his gifts. Her smile of greeting, he continues, was too much like her smile to him: " [. . .] Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,/Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without/Much the same smile? [. . .]" (43-45). The Duke reveals his nature before he makes his complaint, noting that he would never stoop to such a level, and revealing his own narcissism. The psychotic tendencies of extreme self love appears when he admits that he had her killed: "I gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together" (45-46).

Other Study Guides for Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess"

Spark Notes provides the full text of the poem as well as a summary and a detailed reading. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/browning/section3.rhtml

Here you can also find the poem as well as an analysis: http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~jdavis6/poem.html

Cummings Study Guide provides a detailed summary and study of the "My Last Duchess." It also provides information on the actual characters who inspired the poem and the format used to create the poem. http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/MyLast.html