He stops at a painting of his late wife, his ‘last Duchess’ and begins a speech of which he is recanting his thoughts of her. From this speech, his wife was popular, especially with men, and a passionate and pleasant lady (to the reader only). The Duke is telling of his intolerances of her actions, being that of flirtations with men, however innocent, and how she did not rate his ‘gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name’, but instead treated him as she did others. It is well hinted that her behaviour angered the Duke so he had his Duchess killed, ‘I gave commands;Then all the smiles stopped together.’ It would seem his speech is also for the purpose of letting the envoy know his expectations of his new wife, that being very different to the last. Because the poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue, the reader only shares the conversation of the Duke.
“The Duchess is pleased with a bough of cherries just as much as she was to her Husband” (Mitchell 75). The way that she felt made the Duke feel insulted that a man of his social status was compared to slaves and sunsets. The Duke is very jealous that his social status and he are on the same level as a white mule to his Duchess. The things that the Duchess loves anger the Duke because he thinks
Is there evidence that she has unfaithful? Or is she just made happy very easily, and the Duke is prone to jealous irritation because of his inflated status? During the speech about her and her portrait, he makes himself look arrogant and selfish as well as jealous. This is shown through the quotation ‘never to stoop, oh sir she smiled, no doubt, whene’ver I passed her, but
He then thinks about his late wife, remembering that it wasn’t just his company which made her blush. He wonders that maybe it was the painter complimenting her that brought forth such a response from her, as she thought that such attentions were all just formalities and politeness. He continues on scorning the easily pleased nature of the duchess: she found something to praise in whatever she saw. Finding the fact disdainful that things so simple and unworthy as the sunset or a small offering of fruit some officer made her could make her as happy as his gift to her, his hand in marriage and a nine hundred year old name, did, he admits to the messenger that he did not approve of such unreservedness. He goes on to say that no one could really fault the duchess for her flighty nature, but even if he had the power of speech required to make his expectations from her clear, and had she been willing to do as he told, even then he could not think of sinking down to her
The Duke explained to his guest “she like whate’er / she looked on, and her looks went everywhere. (23-24. But what we shortly notice is he is revealing himself, knowingly or not as a forceful husband who regarded his beautiful wife as a simple object, a possession whose single mission was to please him. The Duchess; the late wife of the Duke, on the other hand was not aware of the implications of her conduct were displeasing him. Her actions were not intentional; she was simply trying to satisfy the Duke whatever which way she possibly could.
In ‘My last duchess’ love is shown as a very strong emotion because of the Duke’s possessive love for his ‘last duchess’. He showed disapproval when she smiled at other men or when her ‘looks went everywhere’. The Duke felt that as he had gifted her ‘his nine-hundred-years-old name’, she was his possession and that her smiles and her beauty should only be for himself. This shows how the Duke’s love was very selfish and arrogant as he thought of her as a trophy to show off as if he did not truly love her. This may have been the case as in the 14th to 16th century when the poem was set, women were treated like this and a man would choose his wife taking great consideration into the wealth of her and her family.
The duke’s rapacious nature can be seen many times throughout the poem, one of these moments can be seen from line 1 to 10 in the poem where he talks about who painted the painting and their reputation in the artistic world more than the subject of the painting. These references show how much the duke values wealth. After the duke has finished admiring the artwork of artist he goes on to talk about the innocent face of the duchess. Many strangers observe the painting and admire the honest, depth and passion of the duchesses face however in the quote “But to myself they turned” shows that the duke had completely different thoughts about the painting. The messenger wasn’t the first person to talk about the duchesses face and whenever people ask about the face he replies in a very intimidating manner.
This piece of work of Browning has added a dimension to the world of literature., David Daiches says, “The Whole poem is but the visible part of the iceberg but the submerged invisible part is not a matter of vague suggestiveness; it is both psychologically and historically defined.” The poem is a beautiful study of soul-dissection in its short dramatic form. From our reading of this poem, the Duke of Ferrara emerges as unscrupulous, selfish, tyrannical and arrogant, emerges as an individual as well as a typical nobleman of the Italian Renaissance. We form the idea of the Duchess from the words of Duke himself. She is frank,
But, the words of a cynical older, fat man mitigate Leila's excitement. It is not so much what he says, but the callousness of his feeling that he can just deflate her excitement with impunity that bothers Leila. After his cynical comments on how she will soon be among the "poor old dears" with black bony fans who watch from on the stage, Leila feels that the music has changed to a melancholy melody that rises on a "great sigh." She mourns that happiness is so ephemeral. Telling the fat man that she wishes to stop dancing, Leila wonders why he has spoiled her enjoyment.
She will remember the people who had loved her grace and her beauty with either real or fake sentiments in the past, and also that one man who had loved her soul unconditionally as she grew old and the way she looked changed. As she is reminded of him, she will regret her missed opportunity of true love. Theme & Tone & Rhyme Scheme: The poem is written in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ABBA CDDC EFFE which gives a steady rhythm to the poem. The themes of the poem are love, loss and regret and although based on the poet’s own personal life, the sentiment reflected in this poem is common to most, if not all, rejected lovers. Yeats’ tone helps enrich the reader’s conception of the poem’s theme.