Just as the subject of Robert Browning's “My Last Duchess” is a portrait, the poem paints another portrait; a portrait of the speaker. The poem's portrait of the speaker – at first glance – is that of a madman: an irrational brute who killed his wife in a fit of jealous rage. However, by carefully examining the speaker's words, examining the form of the poem, as well as the historical context of the poem, we can begin to see how the murder of the Duchess was not committed in emotional rage, but rather a rational decision based on societal expectations. This is not to say that the Duke's actions are necessarily justified. There are simply many ways to read a dramatic monologue beyond the speaker's thoughts and what seems obvious when the reader examines those thoughts. Of course, as a dramatic monologue, the primary function of the poem itself is to paint a proverbial picture of the speaker; who they are and what motivates them. However, beyond this, when historical and formal context is added to the poem, we can begin to understand how the poem can be read in different ways and how – in the case of "My Last Duchess" – the duke can be tried. in different ways. Before we can understand the multiple interpretations of a dramatic monologue based on historical and formal context, it is important to first take a close look at the concrete information that is given to the reader. When it comes to a dramatic monologue, the concrete information is the initial portrait that the poem paints of the speaker by taking the reader into his world. The first portrait we get of the speaker is that of an irrational and jealous man, as much of the poem is about the Duchess's flirting with other men. For example “she had... middle of paper ...... there's a lot they don't know about the other characters, and therefore a lot of possibilities beyond a character's monologue. This does not mean that the reader writes the story themselves or that they can simply invent their own story. This simply means that dramatic monologue – a form known for being limited to a single character – actually has many more possibilities and a much greater capacity to tell a larger story. Works Cited Appel, Felicia. “Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society's Ideals on Victorian Relationships.” » Scholars. 1.18 (Summer 2012): Web.Adler, Joshua. “Structure and Meaning in Browning’s “My Last Duchess.” Victorian poetry. 15.3 (Fall 1977) 219-227. Web. Browning, Robert. “My last duchess.” The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Fourth Edition. Ed. David Damrosch and Kevin JH Dettmar. New York: Pearson, 2010. 1328-1331. Print.