English 12 / Unit 5: The Victorian Era
5.5 Browning and the Dramatic Monologue
Notes
A dramatic monologue is a poem in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener in a specific situation, and reveals his or her character, often unintentionally.
- Browning's "My Last Duchess" (1842): the Duke of Ferrara shows a portrait of his late wife to an envoy arranging his next marriage.
- The Duke says: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive." Later: "I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together." The reader realizes he may have had her killed.
- The poem uses enjambment (sentences running past line ends) inside rhymed iambic pentameter couplets, which makes the Duke sound casual and controlled.
- Dramatic irony: the Duke does not realize how much he reveals about his jealousy and pride.
Practice
Who is the audience within "My Last Duchess"?
The Duke speaks to an envoy; the listener's silence is part of the form.
"I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together." What does this suggest?
The vague phrasing implies he had her killed.
Why is a dramatic monologue effective for showing a flawed speaker?
Readers see more than the speaker intends to reveal.
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