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 portrait the poem paints 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 looking closely at the speaker's words, examining the form of the poem, as well as examining the historical context of the poem, we can begin to see how the murder of the duchess was not conducted in a moment of emotional rage, but rather a decision rational based on society's expectations. This is not to say that the Duke's actions are necessarily justified. There are simply many ways to read a dramatic monologue that go beyond the thoughts of the speaker 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 might be read in different ways and how, in the case of "My Last Duchess", the Duke might be judged. in different ways. Before we can understand multiple interpretations of a dramatic monologue based on historical and formal context, it is important to carefully examine the factual information provided to the reader. When it comes to dramatic monologue, the concrete information is the initial portrait the poem paints of the speaker, bringing the reader into his or her world. The initial portrait we get of the speaker is that of an irrational and jealous man, as much of the poem is about the duchess' flirtation with other men. For example “he had…half of the card…there are a lot of things they don't know about the other characters, and therefore a lot of possibilities beyond one character's monologue. This is not to say that the reader writes the narrative themselves or can simply make up their own story. It simply means that the dramatic monologue – a form known for being limited to one character – actually has many more possibilities and a much greater capacity to tell a larger story. Works Cited Appell, 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. Press.