ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The speaker points out a lifelike portrait of his “last Duchess” that’s painted on the wall. This tells us that the speaker is a Duke, that his wife is dead, and that someone is listening to him describe his late wife’s portrait, possibly in his private art gallery.

Detailed explanation-2: -"My Last Duchess” is a poem by Robert Browning, frequently anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue. It first appeared in 1842 in Browning’s Dramatic Lyrics. The poem is composed in 28 rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter.

Detailed explanation-3: -The poem begins with the Duke of Ferrara, a historical figure from the Italian Renaissance, pulling back a curtain to reveal the painting of his wife to the emissary of a Count: That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive.

Detailed explanation-4: -In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue, “The Last Duchess”, he uses the painting as a symbolism of the Duke’s relationship with his former wife. Therefore, as the Duke tries to impress people with his wealth through the painting of Fra Pandolf, he instead unintentionally displays his true personality to others.

Detailed explanation-5: -Even before that famous opening line, ‘That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall’, we’re given the location first of all: Ferrara, a city in northern Italy.