Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue written with the Duke as the speaker. The Duke is having a meeting to negotiate his marriage to the Count’s daughter. While showing the Count’s representative his palace, the Duke purposely points out a portrait of his late wife, the Duchess. At first, I thought the Duke was going to talk about how much he loves and misses his late wife. However, the Duke immediately starts talking negatively about the Duchess and her supposedly flirtatious ways. The Duke does not seem very upset at her passing. I began to wonder if his version of the truth was a bit skewed. After finishing the poem, I was able to determine the true nature of the Duke’s character. Browning gives the reader clues that the Duke is biased. From the very beginning of the monologue, the author uses first person narration with the Duke as the speaker. The Duke starts his diatribe by stating “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall” (line 1). The Duke then states, “I call / That piece a wonder (2-3). …show more content…
Without another point of view, the Duke’s perspective is extremely biased. I also determined that the Duke is very biased because he is trying to manipulate his audience into believing his version of the story. The Duke’s states that “Fra Pandolf’s hands” painted the portrait of the Duchess (3). The Duke then asks the Count’s representative to “sit and look at her” (5). The Duke continues the conversation by stating, “I said / ‘Fra Pandolf’ by design” (5-6). By stressing the importance of the painter, I felt that the Duke is alluding to the fact that something scandalous happened between the Duchess and the painter. The Duke is trying to make himself out to be the