| History |
Browning was a Victorian poet. The reclaiming of the past was a major part of this era of literature. Both classical and medieval works and subjects were studied extensively. The Victorians loved the heroic, chivalrous stories of knights and also the sophisticated culture of ancient Greek and the High Renaissance. It was not uncommon for Browning to use historical figures as the subjects of his poems. In this poem, Ferrara refers to Alfonso II d’Este the Duke of Ferrara, a city-state in northeast Italy, during the Renaissance. The person to whom the Duke of Ferrara is speaking is probably an ambassador or agent of the Count of Tyrol, a small place near Ferrara |
 |
||
|
His first wife, Lucretia de Medici was the daughter of two very important and powerful Italian monarchs. The poem is based on the fact that she died within two years of the Duke's ascension to the throne. Her death was suspicious, but it was never proven that the Duke had anything to do with her demise. |
||
