I. Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812-1889) was the son of a clerk in the Bank of England. He did not attend school and was privately educated by his parents. In 1833 he published his first poem “Pauline”, which was written under the influence of Shelley. Between 1841 and 1847, he published many other poems and seven plays. He married Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and lived with her in Italy until her death in 1861. After the death of his wife, he spent the rest of his life in London. In contrast with Tennyson, Browning was bold and unconventional in matter and style. He is noteworthy for the dramatic monologue, i.e. , a poem in which there is one imaginary speaker addressing an imaginary audience. In his dramatic monologues, he penetrates to depth the psychology of his characters and reveals the innermost secret of their lives.

Unlike Tennyson who felt melancholy in the process of his spiritual search, Browning was always optimistic. He, like Tennyson, also preached God and Immortality, but he looked boldly at the evils in human beings without losing faith.

The poem My Last Duchess is one of the most representative of his dramatic monologues. The speaker is Duke of Ferrara (a city in Italy), who is negotiating with the envoy sent by a count for the marriage of the count’s daughter. He is showing the portrait of his late naive and beautiful wife whom he has killed. The nonchalance in his tone fully reveals the arrogance and cruelty of an Italian tyrant in the age of the Renaissance.

II. Historical Background

1. The Victorian Age

The mid-and-late 19th century is generally known as the Victorian age, controlled by the rule of Queen Victoria. This is a period of dramatic change that led England to the summit of development as a powerful nation. The rising bourgeoisie were getting political importance as well as wealth. England became the world’s workshop and London the world’s bank. London became the center of Western civilization. Literacy increased as the masses started to be educated and started to think for themselves. This stage has got ready for the coming of the Golden Age of the English novel. Along with other forms of literature, they displayed a mirror of the Victorian society and a powerful weapon of its criticism. The English critical realists of the 19th century truthfully reflect the evil of upper class in bourgeois society as well as of the lower classes. Generally speaking, the Victorian literature vividly portrays the reality of the age.

2. Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic monologue, also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. M.H. Abrams notes the following three features of the dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry

(1) A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment.

(2) This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know of the auditors' presence, and what they say and do, only from clues in the discourse of the single speaker.

(3) The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of what the lyric speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and character.

III. Reading Guide

As a chronicler of “the incidents in the development of a soul,” Robert Browning often allowed a speaker’s own words to reveal, and condemn, his or her own behavior. The Duke’s monologue in “My Last Duchess” unveils his persona as courteous, cultured, and terrifying, as he describes a portrait of his late wife in stark detail. Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” first published in Dramatic Lyrics in 1842, is one of the best known of his many dramatic monologues. In the following lesson, students will come to understand the use of dramatic monologue as a poetic device, and they will learn to read beyond the speaker's words in order to understand the implications beneath.

IV. My Last Duchess

That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands

Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said

“Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read

Strangers like you that pictured countenance,

The depth and passion of its earnest glance,

But to myself they turned (since none puts by

The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)

And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,

How such a glance came there; so, not the first

Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not

Her husband’s presence only, called that spot

Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek; perhaps

Fra Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle laps

Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint

Must never hope to reproduce the faint

Half-flush that dies along her throat.” Such stuff

Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough

For calling up that spot of joy. She had

A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,

Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.

Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,

The dropping of the daylight in the West,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace—all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked

Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked

My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name

With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame

This sort of trifling? Even had you skill

In speech—which I have not—to make your will

Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this

Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,

Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let

Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set

Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse—

E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose

Never to stoop. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,

Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;

Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands

As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet

The company below, then. I repeat,

The Count your master’s known munificence

Is ample warrant that no just pretense

Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;

Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed

At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go

Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,

Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,

Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

V. Notes

1. The poem is written in heroic couplets

2. Fra Pandolf: Brother Pandolf is a fictitious painter who painted the portrait of the Duchess(“fa” is an Italian word for“ friar”, meaning“ brother”). In the age of the Renaissance, many painters and artists were friars.

3. by design: purposely

4. for never read/Strangers like you that pictured countenance: for strangers like you never looked at that face in the picture

5. The depth and passion of its earnest glance: the deep feelings showed on her face as she glanced in earnest

6. But to myself they turned: Strangers always turned to me.

7. since none puts by/The curtain I have drawn for you, but I: since none but I have the right to draw the curtain behind which the portrait is hung.

8. if they durst: if they dare.

9. not the first/ Are you to turn and ask thus: You are not the first to turn to me and ask in the way you did.

10. ’t was not/ Her husband’s presence only, called that spot/ Of joy: It was not only her husband’s presence that caused that blush to appear.

11. laps: wraps round.

12. the faint/ Half-flush that dies along her throat: the dim reddish blush that gradually disappears along her throat.

13. such stuff/ Was courtesy: Such foolish words were acts of politeness and respect.

14. her looks went everywhere: She loved to see everything.

15.’ t was all one: All the following things meant the same to her.

16. My favour at her breast: the gift I gave her which she wore at her breast.

17. officious: over zealous.

18. good!: a parenthetical remark spoken by the Duke

19. she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name/With anybody’s gift: She regarded the title of Duchess which I gave her and which has a history of nine hundred years to be of the same value as the gift given to her by some insignificant person.

20. Who’d stoop to blame/This sort of trifling?: Who would lower himself to find fault with this kind of trivial things? Notice the haughty and hypocritical tone of the Duke.

21. such an one: Here refers to the Duchess.

22. here you miss/Or there exceed the mark: In this matter you are not doing enough, in that matter you are doing too much (both “miss” and “exceed” take the object “mark”).

23. set /Her wits to yours: set her mind against your mind.

24. and made excuse: and apologized.

25. E'en then would be some stooping: Even then I would be lowering myself.

26. This grew;I gave commands: These kind of things grew worse and worse; I gave orders. Notice the Duke does not explicitly say what his commands are, and he speaks these words nonchalantly.

27. Then all smiles stopped together: Then she died.

28. There she stands: Here refers to the portrait on the wall.

29. munificence: bountifulness.

30. just pretense/ Of mine: my well-grounded claim.

31. disallowed: rejected.

32. At starting: At the beginning of our conversation.

33. Neptune: Here refers to the statue of Neptune, the Greek sea-god, which the Duke is showing to the envoy as they are going downstairs to meet the people there.

34. Claus of Innsbruck: Claus is an imaginary sculptor; Innsbruck is a place in Austria, then the capital of Tyrol.

VI. Translation

我的前公爵夫人

墙上的这幅面是我的前公爵夫人，

看起来就像她活着一样。如今，

我称它为奇迹：潘道夫师的手笔

经一日忙碌，从此她就在此站立。

你愿坐下看看她吗？我有意提起

潘道夫，因为外来的生客（例如你）

凡是见了画中描绘的面容、

那真挚的眼神的深邃和热情，

没有一个不转向我（因为除我外

再没有别人把画上的帘幕拉开），

似乎想问我可是又不大敢问；

是从哪儿来的——这样的眼神？

你并非第一个人回头这样问我。

先生，不仅仅是她丈夫的在座

使公爵夫人面带欢容，可能

潘道夫偶然说过：“夫人的披风

盖住她的手腕太多，”或者说：

“隐约的红晕向颈部渐渐隐没，

这绝非任何颜料所能复制。”

这种无聊话，却被她当成好意，

也足以唤起她的欢心。她那颗心——

怎么说好呢？——要取悦容易得很，

也太易感动。她看到什么都喜欢，

而她的目光又偏爱到处观看。

先生，她对什么都一样！她胸口上

佩戴的我的赠品，或落日的余光；

过分殷勤的傻子在园中攀折

给她的一枝樱桃，或她骑着

绕行花圃的白骡——所有这一切

都会使她同样地赞羡不绝，

或至少泛起红晕。她感激人．好的！

但她的感激（我说不上怎么搞的）

仿佛把我赐她的九百年的门第

与任何人的赠品并列。谁愿意

屈尊去谴责这种轻浮举止？即使

你有口才（我却没有）能把你的意志

给这样的人儿充分说明：“你这点

或那点令我讨厌。这儿你差得远，

而那儿你超越了界限。”即使她肯听

你这样训诫她而毫不争论，

毫不为自己辩解，——我也觉得

这会有失身份，所以我选择

绝不屈尊。哦，先生，她总是在微笑，

每逢我走过；但是谁人走过得不到

同样慷慨的微笑？发展至此，

我下了令：于是一切微笑都从此制止。

她站在那儿，像活着一样。请你起身

客人们在楼下等。我再重复一声：

你的主人——伯爵先生闻名的大方

足以充分保证：我对嫁妆

提出任何合理要求都不会遭拒绝；

当然．如我开头声明的，他美貌的小姐

才是我追求的目标。别客气，让咱们

一同下楼吧。但请看这海神尼普顿

在驯服海马，这是件珍贵的收藏，

是克劳斯为我特制的青铜铸像。