The Paradoxical Presentation of the Duke in Robert Browning's "my Last Duchess"

Approach to Literature 1

Essay 1

B04102094 陳懷玉

20/10/15

The Paradoxical Presentation of the Duke in Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

Robert Browning presented the speaker, the Duke of Ferrara, in “My Last Duchess” in the form of a dramatic monologue. The use of this form is intended to illustrate the Duke’s power, for he controls the whole conversation. However, while the Duke’s purpose is to show his greatness and authority to the envoy of the Count, the readers are instead, presented with a clear idea of a defective lover who fails to demonstrate his power through self-promotion.

The title “My Last Duchess” suggests two things. Firstly, the word “my” indicates the possessive characteristic of the Duke, and secondly, the word “last” indicates that the Duke has more than one wives. The Duke’s greed can be easily seen throughout the poem, as he is even asking for the Count’s daughter as his new wife.

In the first four lines, readers can see that the Duke appreciates a painting more than a living woman. He calls the painting “a wonder” (3), and goes on praising the “pictured countenance” (7) and the “earnest glance” (8) in Fra Pandolf's painting, rather than praising the Duchess when she was alive. The Duke also has certain expectations on how the Duchess should behave. For example, the Duke becomes upset when the Duchess is not particularly impressed by his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). The Duke also scolds the Duchess, telling her that “here you miss, / Or there [you] exceed the mark” (38-39). The Duke not only objectifies the Duchess, but also judges her according to a set of rules set up by himself, which are expected to be followed strictly.

From line 10 onwards, the Duke’s possessiveness is slowly revealed. “The curtain [the Duke has] drawn for [the envoy]” (10) is a sign of the Duke’s control over the Duchess even after her death. As suggested later, the Duchess alive was “too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed” (22-23). She gave “the same smile” (45) to everyone, and “her looks went everywhere.” (24). The Duke now controls when and who the Duchess gets to meet someone, because the Duke likes the feeling of dominating women, or even other men, as the use of the word “durst” (11) demonstrates the Duke’s status and the fear he has induced among his guests.

From lines 13 to 34, and 43 to 45, while the Duke’s jealousy towards other men is obvious, the Duke’s obsession with power and authority is also indicated. He refers scornfully to what the Duchess thought was “courtesy” (20) as “stuff” (19), he might suspect that the Duchess was having affairs with “some officious fool” (27) because of “[t]he bough of cherries” (27) that served as a gift, and he views his gift as the best. These are all the Duke’s ways to promote himself by placing himself above everyone else. The Duke is so obsessed with power and authority that he worries so much when he feels his supremacy threatened.

Yet, as lines 35-43 suggest, the Duke’s ego is so big that he is unable to swallow his pride to talk to the Duchess. The Duke does not want to “stoop to blame / This sort of trifling” (34-35). The interesting thing is, the Duke spends about 25 lines discussing about the so-called “trifling”, which does mean a lot to him, but he just does not want to admit

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