DOMINATION OF THE DUCHESS Robert Browning’s poem “My last Duchess” is spoken from the perspective of the Duke and conveys the Dukes personality through the literary form of a dramatic monologue. It involves a fictional account of the Duke addressing an envoy from the Count to talk of details for the hopeful marriage to the Count’s daughter. The subtitle of this monologue is “Ferrara,” which suggests an historical reference to Alfonso II, the fifth Duke of Ferrara in Italy in the mid-sixteenth century. The objective of the Duke is to attempt to sway the envoy’s opinion of himself to obtain the maximum dowry possible in pursuit of th