Ferrara's "My Last Duchess"

Personally, I feel Ferrar's "My Last Duchess" is a very enjoyable poem. Although over a century old, the poem is very entertaining, as if it was a part taken from a movie script. The speaker seems to be on the verge of a psychotic break right before he regains himself, like murderours in movies. Unlike many other poems, the speaker in "My Last Duchess" was a very developed character. In the short monologue, the speaker revealed a lot of himself to the audience. For example, as the speaker unveils the Duchess's painting and introduces his deceased wife, what starts off as a light introduction soon turns into a confession. The speaker is consumed with the memory of his recent wife, particularly of the bad habits she possessed. Unintentionally, the speaker begins to nagg to his audience about his recent wife. About how the Duchess flirted with other men and was very easily pleased. It becomes very obvious the speaker's dispitefullness toward the Duchess and it climaxes when the speaker said, "I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands/ As if alive" (lines 45-47). The count realizes that he has gone too far and returns himself to the present, returning to the to role of the polite host.
Anyone can tell that something is unsettling in the speaker's mind, and not only that, the speaker is a very controlling and demanding person. He was unable to accept the innocent gestures and characteristics of the Duchess and when she disobeyed his orders, he decided that he was done with her once and for all. The dialogue starts out with a introduction and a problem, presents a climax and solution, and ends with a conclusion; all in 56 lines.
Besides just the content, the form of the poem also personifies the speaker. Ferrara made sure that the entire poem followed a couplet rhyme scheme. Besides being a formal poem structure, the rhyme scheme helps convey the controlling personality of the speaker; the speaker has to control every line of his dialogue like he had to control the Duchess or else. In addition, as the poem goes on, the speaker's sentences evolve into short and incomplete statements (particularly at at the climax). The short and incomplete statements gives the feeling that the speaker is loosing his controll, he is getting too deep into his thoughts, and he is getting very excited.
"My Last Duchess" is a great example of the importance of a poem's form. A poem's form can add additional details to the subject of the poem and further bring the poem to life.