My Last Duchess

Study Guide

Literary Devices

Structure

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Literary Devices Structure

As a dramatic monologue, “My Last Duchess” consists of a single scene. Browning portrays this scene through the Duke’s speech, which takes the form of one long, continuous narrative. By not breaking the poem into stanzas, Browning places the reader in the shoes of the emissary the Duke is addressing. That is, we feel ourselves to be stuck in an inescapable situation, inundated by the Duke’s flow of language. Though the Duke hardly takes a breath during his monologue, the scene is structured by two minor occurrences that direct the speaker’s mind first to the past, then to the future. At the beginning of the poem, the Duke invites the emissary to sit before the portrait of his late wife, which leads him to cast his mind back in time. He initially recalls the period when Fra Pandolf painted the portrait of his last Duchess, and subsequently he turns to the frustration and jealousy he felt in relation to his late wife’s smiley disposition. After his sinister diatribe, the speaker invites the emissary to stand again and continue on their way to the negotiating room. Here, the Duke’s mind flashes forward in time to the impending marriage to his new Duchess.

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