My Last Duchess Quotes
Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes
ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT
Source: My Last Duchess
Author: Robert Browning
That's my last Duchess painted on the wall
Looking as if she were alive.
Context
This line is from the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning (1842).
Robert Browning is a psychopath's favorite poet. "My Last Duchess" is a little bit poetry, a little bit historical fiction, and a whole lotta crazy. Browning borrowed the plot of this poem from the real-life story of a Renaissance duke, Alfonso II of Ferrara. Browning imagines that the man had his wife, Lucrezia, killed and painted on the wall "looking as if she were still alive." But she's not. Because he killed her.
Where you've heard it
You've heard this when someone is showing you pictures of their dead ex, whom they probably had bumped off.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
We can't imagine anyone wanting to hang out with Robert Browning, or someone who quotes him, at a party. Not because he's overly pretentious, but because he might poison your drink.