40 pages • 1 hour read
My Last Duchess
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning (1836)
“Porphyria’s Lover” is the first dramatic monologue ever penned by Robert Browning. It was first published in 1836 under the title “Porphyria” in the January issue of the Monthly Repository, but it did not receive much critical attention then. Browning later republished it under the title “Madhouse Cells” in Dramatic Lyrics (1942), the same collection in which “My Last Duchess” appears. The poem only received its definitive title in 1863. “Porphyria’s Lover” has gone on to be one of Browning’s most anthologized works alongside “My Last Duchess.”
“Ulysses” by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1842)
Lord Alfred Tennyson was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era and a contemporary of Robert Browning. Tennyson also frequently employed the dramatic monologue form in his poetry, and “Ulysses” is an oft quoted example from his works. “Ulysses” greatly differs in tone from “My Last Duchess,” as it embodies a positive and uplifting spirit. It sees the Greek epic hero Ulysses describing his restlessness and enduring spirit of adventure after having returned to his kingdom, Ithaca, after his many travels.
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot (1915)
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” commonly known as “Prufrock,” is the first professionally published poem penned by poet T. S. Eliot. Eliot lived and wrote in an entirely different era than Browning and is considered a prominent figure in the Modernist movement. However, Browning’s work, specifically the form of the dramatic monologue, influenced Eliot’s own writing, and “Prufrock” is quoted as a more contemporary example of a dramatic monologue. It involves the interior monologue of an urban man experiencing feelings of isolation and incapability for action, which epitomizes the ennui characteristic of the modernist era.
Further Literary Resources
The Ring and the Book by Robert Browning (1868-1869)
The Ring and the Book is a novel in verse penned by Robert Browning and published in four volumes between 1868 and 1869. The book is based on an actual murder case and its trial held in Rome, specifically the 1698 Franceschini case; “My Last Duchess” prefigures this particular work. The Ring and the Book is widely considered to be Browning’s best work ever.
“Robert Browning: My Last Duchess” by Camille Guthrie
This article, penned by Camille Guthrie and housed on the Poetry Foundation website, looks at Browning’s poem as an ekphrastic piece. Guthrie further examines the use of form and punctuation in the poem and how they contribute to its tone and narrative.
“Robert Browning—a poet worth remembering” by Margaret Reynolds (2012)
This short article published in The Guardian gives a brief profile of Browning’s life in remembrance of the 200th anniversary of the poet’s birth in 2012.
Listen to the Poem
Celebrated English actor and recipient of numerous Tony, Emmy, and BAFTA nominations, Alfred Molina performs a reading of Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess.”
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By Robert Browning
