In his poem, “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning uses the description of a painting as the premise through which he paints his own subtle portrait of the speaker. Through his self-absorbed rambling monologue concerning his former wife, the Duke inadvertently reveals much more about himself than he does (as the title would suggest) his “last Duchess.” With his opening line, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ Looking as if she were alive,” …showed first 75 words of 551 total…

…showed last 75 words of 551 total…presents us with a not-so-subtle portrait of an insecure, powerless man who feels an irrepressible need to assert his supremacy over others and to dominate and control. He might be a tragic figure, but we can feel no sympathy. With every word from his mouth, we understand him more and more as a truly evil bastard, capable of nearly anything, even murder. And that is only the beginning. . . remember, we’ve only examined one line.