How does the Italian Renaissance act as the setting to MyLast Duchess?

My Last Duchess : A True Depiction of Italian Renaissance

Robert Browning is known as the master of dramatic monologue . One of the most popular works of the English playwright is My Last Duchess . It was published in what was considered his finest collection of poems in 1842 , Dramatic Lyrics . He belong to a generation where Charles Darwin 's theory of natural selection shook the foundations of religion even science and the arts were in a constant state of flux

Browning was born in England in 1812 to a wealthy family . His father has

br a huge collection of books , which the young Browning took interest in He learned various languages , music , horsemanship , and other things from being tutored at home , but he also attended the University College in London for a year and then decided to study on his own . At the age of 12 , he was already writing poetry . His rich parents supported him in all his literary endeavors . In 1846 , he married fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett

For many critics , My Last Duchess is the perfect dramatic monologue . It clearly separates the speaker from the poet , there is a clear suggestion of an audience who never actually appeared in the poem , and the disclosure of the speaker 's character while he was discussing the portrait . The poem is radiating with brilliance , written by a man with Renaissance values . Thus , it reflects the intrigue , greed , and the flourishing of the arts , characteristic of the Italian Renaissance . This 56-line poem definitely captures the spirit of the era

The setting of the poem is Ferrara , located in northern Italy . The ruling family , the Este family , built a magnificent castle and made the city a center of learning and the arts . Members of the Este family were patrons of great painters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael (Lancashire 32

The characters of the poem resemble characters that exist during the period . The speaker of the poem is loosely based on the life of Alfonso II , the last duke of the city , and his first wife , Lucrezia de ' Medici who died at a young age . Similar with the duchess in the poem , Lucrezia died under suspicious conditions . There were speculations that she may have been poisoned . In the poem , the duke is about to marry the count 's daughter . Historically , Alfonso II married the count 's niece Historically , Louis Friedland , a poetry critic , published an article discussing how Browning came across a similar plot to the My Last Duchess , the story of Alfonso II 's marriage with Lucrezia . Because of his fascination with the Renaissance period , he visited Italy in 1838 where he could read the biography of the duke (Lancashire 45

The themes of My Last Duchess is another example of the presence of Italian Renaissance in the poem . It exemplifies the attitudes of a Renaissance duke---proud , arrogant , and authoritative . Moreover , the speaker is depicted as a lover of the arts . He treats his wife , the duchess , as a possession whose mere job...