Another Domineering Husband In 'My Last Duchess' By Robert Browning
Another Domineering Husband
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue that combines elements of both horror and romance about the Duke of Ferrara who is speaking to the envoy of a count from a neighboring court, giving him a tour of the castle and its treasures. Although this poem is spoken by one person, it is very specifically addressed to someone else. There are at least two points of view inscribed into the poem: the speaker’s and the addressee’s. This is discovered in the course of reading the poem through moments of recognition and confrontation. Through his speech, the speaker unintentionally reveals his own personality. The reader finds the duke is self-centered, arrogant, controlling, and very jealous. The …show more content…
He only uses the pronoun “you” so it is never clear until the ending who the intended listener is. “The powerful, aggressive speaker of “My Last Duchess” starts very abruptly and violently, taking control of the interlocutor, by asserting his possessive attitude regarding, ambiguously, either the portrait or the woman, or both” (Negrut 151). He begins by pointing out the portrait on the wall of his “last duchess” and mentions, not in the least bit sad, that the Duchess is “Looking as if she were alive” (Browning 2). This immediately tells the reader that the duchess is no longer living. “The Duke also mentions his superior status as an aristocrat who is able to command an artist (Fra Pandolf) to ‘work busily a day’ so that the portrait is finished” (Negrut 151). This shows how wealthy of a man he was, reinforcing the reader that with money anything is …show more content…
“This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together” (Browning 45-46). He must have been raging inside because he could not tolerate the thought of her not worshipping only him any longer so he was willing to destroy her. The duke does not say specifically say he murdered her, but one could only imagine that he gave orders to have her killed, another sign of his controlling and commanding
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue that combines elements of both horror and romance about the Duke of Ferrara who is speaking to the envoy of a count from a neighboring court, giving him a tour of the castle and its treasures. Although this poem is spoken by one person, it is very specifically addressed to someone else. There are at least two points of view inscribed into the poem: the speaker’s and the addressee’s. This is discovered in the course of reading the poem through moments of recognition and confrontation. Through his speech, the speaker unintentionally reveals his own personality. The reader finds the duke is self-centered, arrogant, controlling, and very jealous. The …show more content…
He only uses the pronoun “you” so it is never clear until the ending who the intended listener is. “The powerful, aggressive speaker of “My Last Duchess” starts very abruptly and violently, taking control of the interlocutor, by asserting his possessive attitude regarding, ambiguously, either the portrait or the woman, or both” (Negrut 151). He begins by pointing out the portrait on the wall of his “last duchess” and mentions, not in the least bit sad, that the Duchess is “Looking as if she were alive” (Browning 2). This immediately tells the reader that the duchess is no longer living. “The Duke also mentions his superior status as an aristocrat who is able to command an artist (Fra Pandolf) to ‘work busily a day’ so that the portrait is finished” (Negrut 151). This shows how wealthy of a man he was, reinforcing the reader that with money anything is …show more content…
“This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together” (Browning 45-46). He must have been raging inside because he could not tolerate the thought of her not worshipping only him any longer so he was willing to destroy her. The duke does not say specifically say he murdered her, but one could only imagine that he gave orders to have her killed, another sign of his controlling and commanding