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My Last Duchess
The poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue. The story is from Renaissance times in Italy. It is said that the Duke Alfanso is intending to marry again to the daughter of the Count. The Duke is talking to the messenger of the Count here in the poem. The poem is written in memory of the last Duchess of the Duke.
Paraphrasing: Line 1 till line 24
The duke is pointing to a painting on the wall. He says that that’s my last Duchess, who is painted on the wall, she looks as if she is alive. I call this piece of work a masterpiece. Fra’pandolf (the painter of the painting) worked on it a whole day, and there she is. The Duke addresses the messenger. Would you please sit here and look at her?
He says that I used the name Fra’pandolf intentionally, He says I never asked strangers like you to come and look at the painting and the expressions in the painting when it was taken. The Duke says that nobody is allowed to see the painting unless and until I allow them to see it, and I only draw the curtains.
He says that whoever is allowed by me to see the painting, if they dared to ask me when they would look at the painting, they would ask me how such an expression came on the face of the Duchess. He says that if someone comes here and sees the expression on the painting, they will also ask that you are not the first one to ask this question.
Now he is explaining that particular expression to the messenger. He says that when the painting was made, I was also present when Fre’pandolf the painter was painting the picture, so maybe she was not feeling confident in the presence of her husband, which is why that little blush is on the face of the Duchess.
He says that this is not the only reason, at that time, the Fra’pandolf also said that the Duchess is covering herself too much in the shawl, and he said that as I am a painter, she must reveal herself a little. He says that if you want me to draw an accurate painting, she should reveal a little because the expression that is there on her face is extended to her throat if she is covering herself so much, so my skills at the painting would not be able to paint that particular expression.
The painter says that if you want me to recreate that beauty that is there on the face of the duchess as well as on the throat of the duchess, she should not cover herself so much. The Duke says that it was a tribute by the painter to the beauty of the duchess, which is why there is this particular expression on the face of the duchess.
As the beauty of the Duchess was praised by the painter, she smiled, and because of that, a spot of joy came to her face. Now here the Duke is commenting on the character of the Duchess. She was a lady with such a heart, which was easily impressed by people, this was her personality, and this was her character.
She was a very positive kind of lady, so she liked everything, or in other words, she disliked nothing, so whatever she looked at, she liked instantly, and this is something that the Duke also disliked; he wanted her to be a little careful and not look at everything.