My Last Duchess Possessiveness

The poem “My Last Duchess” is a historical event that involves the Duke of Ferrara and Alfonso who lived in the 16th century. Robert Browning "My Last Duchess" presents a narrative about a recently widowed Duke who talks with an emissary had come to an arranged marriage with another lady from a powerful and wealthy family. In the perspective of Duke, power and wealth were integral in marriage and was determined to be married to a wealthy lady from a famous family. As the Duke orients the emissary through the palace, he stops and shows a portrait of the late Duchess who was a lovely and young girl. The Duke then begins by stating information about the picture and then to the Duchess. Duke claims that the Duchess flirted with everyone and did not appreciate the history of the family: “gift of a nine hundred years old name.”(33) However, when an individual continues to read the poem, it is evident that the Duke played an important role in killing the lady. Duke states that “he gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together”(45-46) he used these words to define the death of his beloved Duchess. The aim of the essay is to analyze literary devices that emphasize the content of the poem, which includes rhetorical questions, exclamation mark, and em dash.

In My Last Duchess, Robert Browning uses voice to create a sinister tone by the use of words he chooses for the Duke of Ferrara to use in his dramatic monologue. The Duke is an arrogant, selfish man who loves the arts. He introduces his deceased wife as “That’s my last Duchess, painted on the wall,” he says as if he owned her. The Duke was not happy when she participated in things that that he did not provide her with, she didn’t bow down to his aristocratic ways and this displeased him to a great extent. Then nonchalantly, he tells the ambassador that “I gave commands, Then all smiles stopped together.’ This is the dukes sinister way of confessing he had her murdered.

Browning closes My Last Duchess by establishing that envy can lead a person to commit extreme acts and hinder their- or someone else’s sanity. Browning uses characterization to exploit the character development of the duke and also enhance how envy can lead

“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.

In Robert Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess, is about a conversation surrounding a portrait. The focus swirls around the untimely death of the duchess, Alfonso II last wife, because of some impropriety. She looks alive, and the duke attributes this to the skill of the painter, Frà Pandolf. This serves to remind the reader that the duke does not approve of the way the duchess handled herself. Evidently, the duke does not approve of the zest for life that the duchess exhibited. He of course compliments her beauty,

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.

Indeed, it quickly becomes clear that the Duke disliked many things about his dead wife. The Duke dislikes how the Duchess liked everything that she saw, believing that she was “too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on”. It disappoints him because he wanted to impress her with his marriage to her and also with his money and lifestyle. What annoyed the Duke most was that:

They both insist on the objectification of their female spouse so that they will remain dominate and in control. In “My Last Duchess” the duke praised his “last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive” [1-2]. The duke has a preference to whether his last duchess was alive, of course, he wanted her dead, “I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together” [45-46].

Upon further speculation,a little more of the Duke's personality reveals itself.Much selfishness can be found in the manner in which the Duke conceals the picture.He claims "none puts by/The curtain I have pulled for you but I"(Browning,9-10).If he's the only one who controls who sees the picture,it can be said that he might have been selfish and controlling towards her when she was alive,or in her death he finally found a way to control her.This seemed both funny and ironic, since he has another young woman waiting to be put to the

The story “My Last Duchess”, written by Robert Hayden, is about the Duke of Ferrara who is addressing a painted portrait of his last duchess to a visitor. As the Duke articulates how the portrait came to be, his mindset toward the late duchess reveals how he truly feels about their marriage. Throughout the monologue, the reader is made aware of how jealous and controlling the ego-driven Duke truly is. To begin, one can see the Duke, who claims to never stoop down to his last duchess’s unapproved behavior, is ruled by his ego.

The poem begins as the Duke draws the attention of his fellow conversationalist, who is, we discover, a messenger representing the Count’s family whose daughter’s hand the duke seeks in marriage, to the image of his deceased bride on the wall. The Duke lionizes the work of the artist, Fra Pandolf, who exhausted a day’s worth of effort on the portrait to make it so lifelike. He invites the messenger to take a seat, and proceeds to discuss how all who have ever

The Duke later reveals his true thought when he says “I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands/As if alive.” (lines 45-47) This inclines the audience to think that the Duke killed the last Duchess. The idea of appearance vs reality developed by the Duke was that the Duked seemed to be in love with his last wife, but in reality, he hated her and most likely ordered her death.

Likewise, in the poem “My Last Duchess,” as the Duke discusses his dead wife, it becomes increasingly clear that he is insecure. The Duke implies that his former wife had been unfaithful, but does not have any evidence to support his theory. Instead, like a child, the Duke swears that his wife’s passionate gaze was not kept solely for him. The Duke believes that she had “A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed: she liked whate'er”(Browning 1282). The Duke saw his wife as being too pleasant and friendly with everyone and was offended by it.

The story takes place in the Duke’s private art gallery in his palace in Ferrara. Whereas Prufrock freely let his environment control his life and actions, The Duke selfishly did what he thought was necessary to make himself happy with no concern for others. The Duke makes it clear that he is in control as he explains to a messenger from his future wife’s kingdom the story of his last duchess’ demise. He describes his former Duchess as too easily impressed, using the same face for “The bough of cherries some officious fool broke in the orchard for her” and “the white mule she rode with round the terrace (Browning 1),” but he felt a gift from his royal bloodline should have produced a unique reaction saved only for himself. From the start, it is clear the Duke craves control and feeling superior to others, but his former Duchess denies him of that by sharing the same smile with everyone and everything. As the Duke, he felt he was more-deserving than those around him, so he reacts by having his wife killed and her blushing face painted on his

The Duke takes control of the situation entirely as he is the only speaker throughout the poem and his way of speaking leaves no scope for interruption, by the listener. The way he addresses his listener, “That’s my last duchess”, calls attention to the peculiarity of his designation which he indicates in a very proud manner. The apparent pauses throughout the poem, shown by dashes, indicate hesitation as the Duke considers what to say. This clearly suggests his manipulative attitude. As soon as he points towards the standing portrait of his last wife, he asks his listener to sit down –“Will’t please you sit and look at her?” His way of asking is not very polite and is more of a command which shows the psychology of a man with power.