The Portrait of the Duke in My Last Duchess

張學(xué)敏

【Abstract】My Last Duchess is one of best-known poems by Robert Browning. It has aroused continuous interests among critics and scholars throughout the world since its publication. The study of the novel from various perspectives has turned out to be profound and fruitful. This paper intends to portray the negative Duke by close reading the poem.

【Key words】Duke，Duchess，trait，Robert Browning

My Last Duchess is one of better known poems by Robert Browning. From the title，the Duchess seems to be concerned in the poem. But actually，the main purpose of the poet is to unmask a hypocrite Duke in his true colors.

Obviously，the poem is a first person narrative of the Duke of Ferrara who is soon getting married. It is easy to imagine the Duke is showing the envoy，who has come to negotiate the dukes re-marriage（he recently been widowed）to the daughter of another powerful family，around the gallery to impress him deeply about his wonderful collection.

The Duchess is first introduced as a painting hanging in the Dukes gallery. The very form in which we meet her gives us some food for thought. As the Duke speaks of his last Duchess，in the beginning，he sounds extremely compassionate and caring towards her. The Duke had an absolute love for his Duchess as most husbands and wives do. He sounded so proud of her and the beauty that she posed. From the first two lines，“Thats my last Duchess painted on the wall，looking as if she were alive. ” it is evident that the title refers to a wall painting，and the readers immediately begin to suspect that a sight of regret that raises the sympathy of the readers and makes them feel that he had lost his beloved wife and is very upset about that. The Duke speaks highly of the portrait from which the readers can sense the beauty of his last Duchess. Readers still memorize “the depth and passion of its earnest glance”，that spot of joy into the Duchesss cheek” and her “faint/half-flush that dies along her throat”，which “paint must never hope to reproduce”. What an innocent and lovely girl! Unfortunately she lives a tragedy life.

Firstly，one trait of the Duke that was the most apparent was his possessiveness. In the title，the Duke emphasized “my” to reveal the presence of the feeling of possessing the duchess and show that he “owns” her. Indeed，throughout the poem，the pronoun “my” appears several times，stressing the Dukes possessive nature. The stress on “l(fā)ast” might infer that duchesses，to him，come in sequence，like collectibles that，if necessary，having become obsolescent，are to be replaced. The same possessive attitude can be found in the poem is that he values his wife as highly as not only the person but any other piece of art. In this case it is Neptune- as something which he possesses and owns，and nothing much else. He has a strong sense of ownership.

Secondly，the curtain mentioned is the reference to the Dukes selfish，jealous traits. The Duke is walking with the envoy through his art gallery and he stops to show him a painting of his last Duchess that is presently covered by a curtain. “Since none puts by/the curtain I have drawn for you，but I”. The Duke uses the curtain as a method of controlling his wife，even after her death，because as he tells us pointedly the portrait is curtained off，and only he can pull back the curtain to reveal it. Any “strangers” who are admiring her beauty and have desire to appreciate the portrait of the deceased Duchess is unacceptable，so by hiding the painting behind a curtain，he controls who is allowed to gaze upon her. While we are not specifically told that the Duke kills his wife，he says twice，that she is “as if she were alive”，so it seems quite obvious that she is dead. From the speakers indirect allusions to the death of his wife the reader might easily think that the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy.

Thirdly，the Duke is portrayed as a very arrogant man，He did not seem to care about the happiness of his wife，only his own. He did not like the fact that she found happiness in other places beside him，as if he should be the only life in her life. He could not understand how she could rank his nine thousand year old name with more simple things such as her white mule that she rode on the terrace，an act of kindness from an “officious fool” and the “drooping of the daylight in the West.” His wife，no doubt，had no idea he felt that way but he could not discuss it with her，blaming it on the fact that he had no skill in speech. He let the problem persist until he no longer could stand it and finally “gave commands” that in one way or another caused her death. The Duchess becomes the victim of a male desire to inscribe and fix female sexuality.

In the poem，Browning gives his readers a complex picture of Dukes two main characters. The reader is given an early insight into the personality of the Duke. In the very first lines of the monologue，the Duke，who narrates the poem，is regarded as a good husband at the very beginning，but Browning sets him up to ultimately lose the readers trust. The Duchess becomes the sympathetic character，a victim of foul play. It is through the various representations of the Duchess within the poem that we come to know his characters clearly. The representations of the Duchess，which focus on her ever-present smile and easily satisfied nature，come in sharp contrast with the desperate，sputtering language of the Duke as he tries to tell their story on his own terms.

My Last Duchess is a masterpiece. Robert Browning perfectly gathers many writing elements to reveal the Dukes character，which is the primary aim of the poem. Readers cant help wondering about the powerful language and the talented narrative skill the poet chooses in description of the Dukes personality and event.

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