A Hidden Narrative: Examining the Emissary's Position in Browning's 'My Last Duchess'

Dramatic Monologue was a prominent poetic form in the Victorian age, characterised by a single speaker addressing an unknown, silent audience. Robert Browning, who experimented much with the form and wrote remarkable dramatic monologues, “My Last Duchess” stands out for masterful use of the form and compelling subject matter. The interesting part of the monologue for this paper is the silent listener, the emissary who listens to what the speaker, the Duke, has to say. It does not speak throughout the poem. The Duke talks to the emissary of his previous marriage and how his former wife was not up to the mark. She never respected Duke’s nine hundred years old family, this infuriated the Duke, and he ordered to stop “all smiles”. The paper presents a reinterpretation of the poem “My Last Duchess” which contrasts with the conventional interpretations. It shifts the focus from the dominating narrative in the poem that is the story of the Duchess to the inconspicuous audience of the poem. It looks at the emissary and his possible subaltern position and its causes in the poem.