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My Last Duchess

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My Last Duchess
My Last Duchess: An Analysis of The Duke

"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning is clearly a dramatic monologue used to depict the character of the Duke. The agent seems present although he never participates in the conversation and all parts are spoken by the Duke. The Duke describes some of the agent's questions and makes the dramatic monologue possible by answering, for example, the questioning glance he gets from the agent about the "spot of joy on the duchess' cheek". The poem presents the Duke as manipulative, arrogant, self-centered, chauvinistic, jealous, and controlling. All of these characteristics are shown as the Duke discusses the failings and imperfections of his late wife. The Duke unknowingly presents his own failings and …show more content…
The Duke constantly refers to the Duchess as "My Last Duchess" as if she does not deserve a name because she belongs to him. This is part of his chauvinistic attitude. The Duke does not feel as if women are human but rather objects that need a man to tame them and control their every move. The Duke reveals his jealous streak after discussing the duchess is wandering eyes and smile for everyone. The Duke says, "…she smiled, no doubt, /Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without /Much the same smile…." (line 44). This upset the Duke because he felt she should not treat everyone else as she treated him. He felt she was ungrateful of the "nine-hundred-years-old name" that he bestowed upon her. Since the Duke felt unappreciated, he directly lashed out and caused all "smiles to cease". The reader is left to wonder if this line is saying that the Duke ended the life of his' duchess because she failed to satisfy his ego. The tone used by the Duke at this point is very ominous and controlling. The readers must decide for themselves what the words "caused all smiles to cease" mean. The tone of the poem indicates that the Duke performed some sort of …show more content…
Now that he is about to embark on a new marriage, he shows that he does not really care for his fiancée either. The Duke views her as just another object that he will own and tame to his own liking. In lines 49-52 he says, "The Count your master's known munificence/Is ample warrant that no just pretense of mine for dowry will be disallowed;/Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed/At my starting, is my object….". These lines convey that the Duke is reminding the agent not to forget the dowry that the girl is supposed to bring. The Duke is a very greedy man and only lives to obtain as much power and wealth as possible. The statue of Neptune is used to show the Duke's wealth and
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