My Last Duchess Essay

Within My Last Duchess, the reader is introduced to the character of Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara. Throughout the poem, Alfonso is talking to an emissary about his late wife (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). He then goes on to discuss in detail about how his wife would flirt with every man she saw, “She had a heart- how shall I say? - Too soon may glad, too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). From this statement, it is made apparent that Alfonso and his previous wife didn’t have the greatest of relationships, this is further segmented when he goes on to say that she held no respect for the influence he bore, “She thanked men- good! But thanked somehow- I know not how- as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift” (Robert Browning, My Last Duchess). Just from these two excerpts alone, it could be assumed that Alfonso and the Duchess’

Through out the monologue, the Duke reveals his arrogant and pride stem from his aristocrat ancestry name. He criticized the Duchess appreciations in life to be unfair. For example, this quote explain the Duke’s arrogant as he belief she did not respects his “gifts” enough, ”She thanked men, – good! but thanked / Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift.” (Browning 893) The line “nine-hundred-years-old name” can also be interpret that the Duke consider his status to be superior than hers, therefore it is the Duchess’s obligation to valued what he has given, more than others. Furthermore, the Duke’s pride would not allow him to stoop lower than his position in order to protest

In My Last Duchess, however, love appears to be concerned with the extent to which the Duke loves himself, “I choose/never stoop”. This infers that the Duke views himself in a

That's my last Duchess...' Line 1 The Duke seems to be a man who expects his wife to be the 'conventional' female, and abide by the strict gender roles that existed at this period in history. He repeatedly downgrades his wife, and makes out that she doesn't appreciate the high social rank which she has married into. He even goes as far as indicating that his wife has been unfaithful - all an attempt to really try and justify his reasons as to why he 'gave commands'.

In Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess,” the author writes of a Duke who seems to admit to murdering his last duchess. The poem starts with the Duke introducing the painting of his last duchess to an emissary. He goes on to claim that she was unfaithful and believes that she was flirting with the artist of her portrait. The Duke insists that he should be the only one that has her attention. Throughout the poem, the Duke’s ego is revealed and he implies that he executed his own wife (Browning 1016-1017). “My Last Duchess” is filled with ambiguous claims which calls the reader to examine every possibility. This is difficult considering there is only one speaker, the Duke, in the poem. The three things that are discovered when a reader dives deeper into Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess”, are the dysfunction of the Duke and Duchess’ relationship, the reason for the Duke’s vanity, and the misrepresented Duchess.

In the beginning of the poem, the Duke is introduced as a loving husband who misses his late wife; however, the Duke quickly reveals that he misses having a conquest that doubled as a possession. The Duke gives off the impression that he misses the Duchess

In My Last Duchess, the Duke was heavily jealous of his past wife, which is one reason why he wanted to keep the mystery of his painting a secret. He had mixed feelings about this woman, “She had/ A heart... how shall I say?...too soon made glad./ Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (Browning 21.24).

Browning presents the duke as an arrogant, jealous character with an ostentatious disposition .In the dramatic monologue of the Duke it would seem he over analyses his duchesses interactions in the poem, particularly that of the male gender. This institutes that the Duke is a jealous man and also that he regards the duchess as more of a possession than a person. This is also portrayed through the possessive pronouns used throughout the poem such us “my” and “mine.” Another fact that expresses his officious nature would be that as his wife didn’t act like ‘his’ possession he had her killed and turned into something he could control. This is shown in the fact he had her portrait put behind a curtain which only he was allowed to open this is symbolism for being able to hide and control her unlike when she was alive. The curtain also draws attention the painting behind it which shows his theatrical side as he just shows it off to strangers “strangers like you that pictured countenance.” His theatrical side is also shown when he drops

The Duke allowed his pride to get in the way of being an honorable man and Porphyria’s lover allowed his flattery to take on a literal interpretation of Porphyria’s everlasting love. The speakers of both poems emphasized their lovers’ beauty only to contrast with their unexpected deaths. Browning effectively conveys their arrogant attitude through their unwarranted actions that reveals what each speaker hopes to gain out of the experience by doing so. Images of nature play a vital role in the characterization of both women, depicting their innocence from their lovers’ perspective. These rare instances of love as displayed in both poems indicate that revenge is simply not the best option in these

In “My Last Duchess,” The poet is clearly unhappy with his last Duchess, the tone is wheedling, reproachful admiration of the actual portrait of the woman, whom he adores—as art. The words, “MY last”, implicate that this is not the only duchess he had. If there were only one, he might have said, “My first’ duchess” He is not interested in mourning his previous wife, but extolling the beauty of the painting of her--while courting a new one. He explains that she was more than delighted to smile at other men, no differently than she did for him. She clearly upstaged him on several fronts, not being deferential to him, or to the name she took on with marriage to him.

Browning composes his work through the use of the form, dramatic monologues. This helps to portray the psychotic mindset of the character to notify the reader and expand their knowledge. In addition, this enables Browning to capture the deluded aspect of the character. Robert Browning unveils his work through one long stanza; this is signified in My Last Duchess, where it illustrates the Duke’s potency and sense of mightiness. Furthermore, this demonstrates how much of a self-absorbed, narcisstic imbecile the Duke is to give the reader the characters attributes.

The dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess” was penned down by Robert Browning. In this poem, the narrator is the Duke of Ferrara, and the listener is the count’s agent, through whom the Duke is arranging the proposed marriage to a second duchess. The poem is ironical and reveals its rhetorical sense, gradually. In the later part of the poem, the Duke claims that he does not have a skill in speech, but his monologue is a masterpiece of subtle rhetoric. While supposedly entertaining the listener by showing his wife’s portrait, he clearly reveals his character. Through his formalized tone of rhyme, he reveals his egoistic and jealous attitude.

In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.

“My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, depicts powerful husbands attempting to control the actions of their wives as they are free to do as they please. In contrast, women are expected to be faithful and attentive only to their husbands. The power and control of the Duke is conveyed by a painting of the Duchess. It belongs to the Duke and is referred to as “my last Duchess” (1). The use of “my” demonstrates the possessive nature of the Duke and his claim of the Duchess as his own personal possession, much like the painting itself. As the Duke persists on forcing domination upon the Duchess, he is greatly displeased to find that she treats and considers him as the same value as nearly any other man.

Written by Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess” is a poem about an egocentric Duke who has a painting of his last wife upon the wall and is trying to impress an ambassador who is negotiating his next marriage. Although it is obvious that the Duke is trying to persuade this ambassador, however, this is where the first mystery is created. It is almost as if he is trying to persuade no one more than himself.