Robert Browning My Last Duchess as a dramatic monologue.

My Last Duchess (1842), written by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue which deals with the Victorian social issues about the condition of woman. The poem explores the class consciousness and the Victorian morality code where a woman is strictly adhered to certain social norms. Browning also presents the male dominion and sketches the character of the speaker in the form of a monologue as well as the insights into the character of the Duchess. As a feminist poem, one can observe that the woman is objectified for a male gaze and desire as well as the oppression faced in the patriarchal society which Browning tries to establish in the poem.

The important features of the dramatic monologue is the presence of a speaker and the listener. The speaker in the poem is considered to be the Duke of Ferrara and the listener is the guest who came to visit the Duke. The setting is presented in the form of a monologue where the guest is drawn attention to the portrait of Duchess and the listener is told that the painting is done by Fra Pandolf. The psychological aspect is clearly drawn in the poem where the image of the painting evokes a sense of emotion attached with it which creates an inner conflict in the mind of the guests who feel its deep, passionate and earnest glance of the Duchess.

However, it throws insight into the social realism as a dramatic monologue. The Victorian era was a class conscious society and especially the woman were bounded to certain conventional norms. The Duke in the poem recollects his past knowledge about the Duchess and objects her actions and behaviours. She was portrayed as an immoral woman who equally shows respect to others and smiles at other man. Her actions and behaviour seem impulsive and immoral to the Duke and hence the Duke stopped her smiles which is presented euphemistically to show that she was killed. It clearly exemplifies the Victorian ideals of “Angel in the house” where a woman needs to be chastise and pure in the society. The objectification of woman is also presented in the poem where a woman’s image on the portrait is used for a male gaze and desire while establishing the male superiority. The Duchess was presented as an immoral woman but her image is objectified to others to show the Duke’s wealth and social status.

Moreover, Browning sketches the character of the Duchess through a dramatic monologue. The character of the Duchess is sketched by the reminiscing process of Duke’s opinions and views. The Duke tells his guest that the Duchess liked everything and everyone she saw which reflects that she was sleeping around with other man. He even says that her response was kind and gives equal honour with the same blush on her cheeks which he objects it claiming that she is passionate or over emotional. He even further argues that she gives equal amount of smiles to other man who passes her which he tries to sketch her as an immoral woman. The Duke also represented her as a woman who disrespects her own social position for which she equally gives importance and smiles at others in contrast to the Duke highlighting that he would lower himself if he argues with the Duchess about her behaviour.

The entire process of the Duke reminiscing about the character of Duchess delineates the character of the Duke which becomes an essential essence of the dramatic monologue. Browning sketches the character of the speaker or the Duke which shows the social realism of male’s attitude towards woman. The Duke’s dislikes about the Duchess manners of thanking other men and being ignorant towards her social status reflects the Duke as a sexist man who is stereotyping the Duchess personality and her kind attitude in a negative perception.

One can also observe the character of Duke as a typical man who shows power along with dominion . The Duke’s resistivity to bow down to others and her objection towards the Duchess giving equal values and smiles to others shows him a man of dominion and superiority through his power and social status. The sycophantic character of the Duke is seen when he flatters the generosity of the guest’s master so to acquire the dowry which he can extract from the marriage to which he lies saying that the Duke wants the Count’s beautiful daughter and not the dowry. It also shows the materialistic attitude of the Duke representing a typical Victorian.

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