my last duchess
...d a nameless individual who are making the final arrangements for the Duke’s second wedding. Robert Browning, the author of “My Last Duchess”, uses the setting to show the Dukes greed, cruelty, and jealousy. The development of the setting begins with the Duke showing an agent for the Count of Tyrol the curtained picture of his deceased Duchess. Count of Troy sent an agent in order to see if the Duke is worthy to marry his daughter. The fact that he keeps the picture behind closed curtains and deems it a privilege to view the Duke’s last Duchess illustrates his possessiveness and greed. “She thanked men--good! But thanked somehow--I know not how--as if she ranked my gift of nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift”. This line lends to the setting by showing his greed and how he places himself above other men according to his possessions and can not believe that she had the audacity to place “the Duke” in the same category as other men. The physical setting of this poem is revealed by phrases such as “ That’s my Duchess painted on the wall” and words like “curtai...