My Last Duchess

"My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue, which takes place in the Italian renaissance and the persona in this poem is Alfonso II, duke of Ferrera. The incidents take place at the staircase where the duke is addressing an agent about his late wife, duchess Lucrezia while looking at her portrait. The duke's agenda with the agent is his wish to marry the daughter of the count of Tyrol.
The poem is written in iambic pentameter in order to imitate natural speech so that the poet is not confused with the persona. Browning's intention to imitate natural speech could be to distance himself from the duke.
The poem is written entirely with rhyming couplets and he has also made use of alliteration "The dropping of the daylight in the west" and "she rode with round the terrace".
The set-up in this poem is about the duke's displeasure with his last wife and how he uses her as a counterpart to how the ideal wife should be. Through him we learn something about the last duchess while at the same...