My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue in which the Duke of Ferrara speaks to the servant of a Count who has come to arrange the Duke's next marriage. As they walk through the Duke's palace, he stops before a portrait of his late wife, the Duchess. The Duke proudly shows the painting and explains that it was painted by the artist Fra Pandolf. He says that only he draws the curtain covering the portrait, so only he can decide who is allowed to see it. As he talks about the Duchess, the Duke reveals that she was a kind, cheerful, and innocent woman. She smiled easily and appreciated simple pleasures such as sunsets, flowers, gifts, and acts of kindness. She treated everyone with the same warmth and gratitude, whether they were ordinary people or her husband, the powerful Duke. The Duke disliked this behaviour because he wanted the Duchess to value him above everyone else. He believed that his noble family name, which had existed for "nine-...