My Last Duchess

The poem My Last Duchess utilizes strong imagery of the speaker’s last wife in order to warn his new future wife the expectations and need that he needs, for his last marriage did not meet his expectations. From the description of his last wife and her flaws, the speaker evokes to his future wife what he expects in his new marriage, which further reveals the speaker’s attitude.
The speaker enjoys and compliments the last duchess’ “depth and passion” of her earnest glance. However, it is revealed that the last wife shared this element of herself “not in her husband’s presence only”. The last wife has a heart “too evenly impressed” and as a result, is an easy target for other men’s actions such as complementing her and even receiving cherries
Eventually, the speaker “gave commands” in order to stop the last wife’s precieved flirtacious attitude, which unfortunately leads to the last wife’s death where at the end of the marriage “all smiles stopped together”.
Because of the speaker’s brash attitude towards his last wife, he now expects no less than what he believes he deserves from his last wife. The speaker arrogantly wants his future wife as his own “object” where he can control her “like a sea horse”. In addition to the rein of control the speaker pompously thinks he deserves, the speaker too expects the dowry from the daughter’s family, which adds to the list of expectations and demands the speaker has.
The poet utilizes the poem to reveal the speaker’s past history with the last wife and demonstrate the flaws of the marriage on his wife in order to expose the speaker’s jealous, egocentric control that he wanted on his last wife. The overall attitude of the speaker acts as a warning to what he expects in his new wife. Going into the speaker’s new marriage, he expects total control, though he sees it “a rarity”, the speaker strives for control in his marriage with his future wife, which he never had until the end of the last