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"My Last Duchess" is a poem by Robert Browning, frequently anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue. It first appeared in 1842 in Browning's ''Dramatic Lyrics''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Applying Modern Critical Theory to Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" ), Note 16-C〕 The poem is written in 28 rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter. ==Historical background== The poem is preceded by "''Ferrara:''", indicating that the speaker is most likely Alfonso II d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533–1598), who, at the age of 25, married Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, the 14-year-old daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo. Lucrezia was not well educated, and the Medicis could be considered "nouveau riche" in comparison to the venerable and distinguished Este family (the Duke's remark regarding his gift of a "nine-hundred-years-old name" clearly indicates that he considered his bride beneath him socially). She came with a sizeable dowry, and the couple married in 1558. He then abandoned her for two years before she died on 21 April 1561, at age 17. There was a strong suspicion of poisoning. The Duke then sought the hand of Barbara, eighth daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary and the sister of the Count of Tyrol, Ferdinand II.〔Robert Browning, John Woolford, Daniel Karlin (1991) ''The Poems of Browning: 1841–1846, Pearson Education'' 518 pages. (ISBN 9780582063990), p. 157 〕 The count was in charge of arranging the marriage; the chief of his entourage, Nikolaus Madruz, a native of Innsbruck, was his courier. Madruz is presumably the silent listener in the poem. The other characters named in the poem, painter Frà Pandolf and sculptor Claus of Innsbruck, are fictional. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「My Last Duchess」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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