Paper Summary:

The paper relates that in "My Last Duchess," we are introduced to four characters through the monologue that is the singular voice of the Duke. The paper describes how the duke, speaking to an agent (there to negotiate new marriage arrangements), speaks of his late wife and of the father of his next bride-to-be, the Count. The paper asserts that it is the corrupt aristocratical power of the Renaissance that sets the stage for the duke to casually detail, for his listener, his murder of the duchess.

From the Paper:

"The Renaissance is implied at the opening of "My Last Duchess" with one word, Ferrara. This is thought to refer to the Duke of Ferrara (1533-1598) who lived during the late Italian Renaissance. Additionally, the Duke had a young wife Lucrezia, the daughter of Cosmo de'Medici, who died after only two years of marriage and was rumored to have been poisoned. The setting for the poem is further with imbued with references to titles, dowries, and to a bronze of Neptune, all contemporary facets of the Renaissance period (Dubois 1, 3). The appearance of Neptune is significant as the Renaissance artists..."

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