The PainterChris de Burgh

I'd like you to meet my last queen,Over there large as lifeShe's been hanging there for almost a week,My poor late wife;

What do you think of the colour of her skin,It has the bloom of a rose,You see she begged me to bring a certain painter in,And for that picture in her bedroom she would pose;

Well after a while he was driving me mad,As you could well understand,Sitting in there, day after day,With my wife in the palm of his hand...It was -

"Madam please do this and Madam please do that",You've never heard such display,But he didn't mind he was taking his time,It was me that had to pay,

"Oh Madam I think we should take a walk in the woods,You understand it's the light",And did I mind, no, I was so kind when they,Came back in the middle of the night,

And I swear I'll take care of the painter, oh the painter...

Well as you can see it was hard for me,But something has to be done,She only has eyes for him and his lies, and as for me,Not a glance, not a single one;

My orders were severe and she disappeared,It really was such a shame,And when they told me she was dead I broke down and said,"It's that painter, it's him, he's to blame."

With his "Madam please do this and Madam please do that",You've never heard such display,But he didn't mind he was taking his time,It was me that had to pay,

"Oh Madam I think we should take a walk in the woods,You understand it's the light",And did I mind, no, I was so kind when theyCame back in the middle of the night,

And I hope it's the rope for the painter,When he's found, it's hellbound for the painter,I'll get that painter...

My Last DuchessRobert Browning

Robert Browning

1818 – 1889

Victorian Age (1840 – 1890)

Poet and playwright

Master of the “dramatic monologue”

dRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

Speaker who is not the poet Duke of Ferrara (Alfonso II)Ferrara = city-state in LombardyReveals thoughts at significant moment in his lifeUsually a one-sided conversation with a silent partnerDuke discusses the portrait of his late wife with an envoy (a diplomat or messenger) from the Count whose daughter he intends to marryWe become chillingly aware that he is an arrogant man – will do anything to satisfy the demands of his arrogance

The poem tells of a very cruel and ruthless Duke who cannot love

without so completely possessing and destroying the

identity of his wife that he literally kills her and lives with her dead substitute – a work of

art.

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,Looking as if she were alive. I callThat piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's handsWorked busily a day, and there she stands.Will't please you sit and look at her

What are the implications of the word “last”?

Iambic pentameterAttitude towards the Duke?

What does the pronoun tell us about his attitude towards her? Why

“now”?

Value of painting versus the value of his wife?

In media res – in the middle of the conversation – Duke is speaking directly to the envoy

I said"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never readStrangers like you that pictured countenance,

The depth and passion of its earnest glance,But to myself they turned (since none puts byThe curtain I have drawn for you, but I)                      10And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,

Deliberately, on purpose

What does this tell us about the character of the Duke?

What does this tell us about the visitors’ attitude towards the Duke ?

How such a glance came there; so, not the firstAre you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas notHer husband's presence only, called that spotOf joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhapsFrà Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle lapsOver my Lady's wrist too much," or "PaintMust never hope to reproduce the faintHalf-flush that dies along her throat": such stuff Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough               20For calling up that spot of joy. She hadA heart -- how shall I say? -- too soon made glad,

The Duke tries to imagine what the painter said that caused this reaction.

Does not blame the painter but his wife. The painter was being polite. She should not have been so easily impressed.

Too easily impressed; she liked whate'erShe 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 muleShe rode with round the terrace -- all and eachWould draw from her alike the approving speech,          30Or blush, at least. She thanked men, -- good! but thankedSomehow -- I know not how -- as if she rankedMy gift of a nine-hundred-years-old nameAccording to the Duke she had no ability to discriminate between important and unimportant things:

“My favour at her breast” “My gift of a nine-hundred-years old name”It is “good” that she showed gratitude but “bad” that she ranked this things on a par with his name.

With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blameThis sort of trifling? Even had you skillIn speech -- (which I have not) -- to make your willQuite clear to such an one, and say, "Just thisOr that in you disgusts me; here you miss,Or there exceed the mark" -- and if she letHerself be lessoned so, nor plainly set                              40Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,--E'en then would be some stooping, and I chooseNever to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without

He believes he lack the “skill in speech” to make his will clear to her

Not prepared to compromise his dignity or to drop to her level.

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;Then all smiles stopped together. There she standsAs if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meetThe company below, then. I repeat, The Count your master's known munificenceIs ample warrant that no just pretence                                50Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowedAt starting, is my object. Nay, we'll goTogether down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

We do not know what these commands were but we see their results

Poem ends where it started – the Duke shows the envoy another “treasure”

ONE SPEAKER

FOUR CHARACTER

S

THE DUKE THE

DUCHESS

THE VISITOR –

THE COUNT’S ENVOY TH

E PAIN

TER

– FRA

PANDOLF

Enjambement/run-on linesIrony (appearance vs reality)Pronouns and possessivesAmbiguity:

“Her looks went everywhere’

“I choose/Never to stoop”“This grew”“I gave commands”“All smiles stopped together”