My Last Duchess by Robert Browning| dramatic monologue| in hindi and English| line by line analysis|

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Caesura:    • Caesura | meaning | types | examples | not...  

Meter :    • Meter in Poetry | Iambic pentameter | TROC...  

Archaic words :    • Archaic words |THOU | THY | THINE | THEE |...  

SONNET & ITS TYPES:    • SONNET (SHAKESPEAREAN & PETRARCHAN)(EXPLAI...  

ALLITERATION & CONSONANCE :    • Alliteration and consonance | difference |...  

METAPHOR :    • SIMILE & METAPHOR | SIMILE vs METAPHOR  

ENJAMBMENT :    • Enjambment with notes and examples || end ...  

PERSONIFICATION:    • PERSONIFICATION | THE FIGURE OF SPEECH | E...  

Subject- verb agreement :    • Subject- verb agreement English grammar  

The poem opens with the Duke of Ferrara pointing to a woman’s portrait
on the wall. This woman he introduces as his previous Duchess. He also
remarks on the lifelike quality of the portrait. He then goes on to appreciate
it as a wonderful piece of art and commends the artistry of Fra Pandolf, who
worked for one full day before the portrait assumed its present perfection. He
then requests the envoy to sit down and admire the portrait. You must have
noticed how adeptly Browning is dramatizing the situation by making quick
digressions in the narrative. He continues that he had mentioned the name
of Fra Pandolf on purpose. His experience so far had been that whoever saw
the portrait always questioned him, if they dared, about how that particular
expression came to the Duchess’ face. The Duke, in yet another aside, says
that no one else but him is allowed to draw the curtain that conceals the
portrait. He assures the envoy that he was not the first to question him about
it.
In a slightly ironical tone, the Duke tells the envoy that his Duchess’ face
did not flush with pleasure in his presence alone. He says that the painter
had probably made some routine remark about the position of the lady’s
mantle. Or it is possible that he had complimented her on her beauty saying
that it would not be possible to capture the fading blush on her throat,
on canvas. The Duchess was easily impressed with such courtesies and
beamed with pleasure. The Duke, a suave conversationalist pauses for a
moment to choose the correct word to describe the lady’s nature. He puts it
most delicately saying that ‘she had a heart ... too easily impressed’. This
is sarcastically meant, for he had no sympathy with or understanding of the
young Duchess’ innocence. He complains that she liked all that she saw.
He is shocked at her lack of discrimination. Whether she was wearing the
ornaments presented by her husband, or whether she was looking at the
setting sun, or whether she received a branch of cherries broken for her from the orchard by someone eager to please, or whether she rode the white
mule round the terrace, the Duchess would blush or express her pleasure to
one and all equally. He could not get over the fact that since she thanked
all equally she probably held his ancient family name in equal esteem with
them. It was below the dignity of the Duke to put a stop to such frivolous
behaviour.
He then tries to enlist the envoy’s sympathy by asking him how he could
have handled such a situation without compromising his dignity. He simply
says that he did not know how to express his desires to her. He could not tell
her how her behaviour disgusted him or how she fell short of or exceeded
the limits of decorum. He was not sure whether the Duchess would allow
herself to be corrected without defiance, it would still amount to having
‘stooped’. And this is something the Duke would not permit himself to
do on any account. He hastens to assure the envoy that she was fond of
him for she smiled at him whenever he passed. But because of his extreme
consciousness of his exclusive name he could not tolerate the fact that she
smiled at others as well. As this increased, he gave the necessary commands
so that her smiles may be stopped forever.

After having narrated the fate of his unfortunate erstwhile wife, the Duke
once more turns to the portrait with the eye of a connoisseur. He then
requests his guest to rise so that they may rejoin the company assembled
downstairs. But before they join the others, the Duke shrewdly mentions the
point he wishes to make. He hopes that the envoy’s generous master will
be able to meet his demands for the dowry he hopes to receive on marrying
his daughter. But ever one for propriety and decorum the Duke states that
it is not for dowry that he is contemplating marriage but because he is fully
impressed with the merits of the Count’s daughter. At this point the envoy
probably falls a step behind to allow the Duke to descend first. The Duke
graciously insists on their going down side by side. As they walk down, the
Duke draws the envoy’s attention to a rare bronze statue of Neptune, taming
a seahorse that had been cast by the famous sculptor Claus of Innsbruck.