‘My Last Duchess’ - Context Analysis
Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess (1842) is one of the most famous dramatic monologues in Victorian poetry. It offers a chilling insight into the psychology of power, control, and jealousy. Understanding the poem requires knowledge of its historical, literary, and biographical contexts. Below are five key points that provide deeper insight into this work.
If you’re studying the poem and need more revision help, take a look at our full analysis below:
Context Points:
Setting — Ferrara, Italy, Renaissance period (1561)
Narrator — Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara, whose young wife Lucrezia Medici died under suspicious circumstances—suspected poisoning (married at 14, dead by 17) — he was married three times.
After her death, Alfonso courted and married another woman Browning loved the Medieval period and lived in Florence, Italy during the Victorian era (1812–1889).
Fra Pandolf — A fictional painter, the name ‘Fra’ means ‘Brother’ so it shows that he was a monk. He was commissioned by the Duke to paint the woman (likely based on Fra Lippo Lippi — a very famous monk painter whose work can be seen in the Uffizi Gallery. He also had an affair with one of his portrait models)
The Victorian attitude to mourning was very different from Renaissance Italy — Victorians would have been shocked that the Duke had moved on so quickly from his dead wife and paid her no respect by not mourning her properly.
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