Literary essay Advice

Hi, uh I just wanted to know if anyone read the poem "my last duchess" by robert browning, and if you did, what you think of my litterary essay, thx!


My Last Duchess


In Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" there is irony which is that it really is not about the duchess, but instead about the controlling, jealous, and arrogant nature of the duke. In his monologue describing a painting of his former wife, the duke introduces us to his dark and sinister qualities.

The duke shows off his control in the beginning parts of the poem. In his speech he says, "since none puts by/The curtain I have drawn for you, but I". Here he says that nobody but him has the power to display the painting. But this is obvious and didn't need saying, since the painting is in his home and he owns it, of course he is the only one who would draw the curtain to display it. He only adds this statement to highlight his control. As the poem progresses, we find more mention of the duke's love of control and realize that it is a very important thing to him. This line also is important because it shows that the duchess (now in the painting) is under complete control of the duke and can only be seen by others when he wishes it.

It was the lack of control and jealousy that the duke felt over his wife that caused him to kill her. "She had/A heart--how shall I say?--too soon made glad,/Too easily impressed" The duke felt that his wife was too appreciative of the attention that other men paid her. He did not openly accuse her of adultery, but condemned her flirtatious behavior. He claimed, "all and each/Would draw from her alike the approving speech,/Or blush, at least" To the duke, it seemed as if every man who passed his wife obtained a special, intimate reaction. The duke wanted his wife to smile at no one but himself.

Near the end of the poem he describes what happened when his wife continued to share her affection;



Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together.


The duchess' smiles to the other men brought out an anger in the duke so powerful that he gave commands to have her killed. His jealousy came from the lack of control he felt he had over his wife. Now that she was dead and existed only in the painting, he could have absolute control over her.

The arrogance of the duke was best shown by subtle comments that he made throughout his speech. He sneered at the idea that his former duchess could rank "My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/With anybody's gift".Here, the duke made it sound as if he was being generous when he agreed to marry his wife. He felt that she should have recognized more clearly what a wonderful gift he had given her. Just a moment later, he reasserts his superiority by stating that "I choose/Never to stoop".The duke feels that he is too important to even be bothered with small annoyances. He will not stoop to the lowness of asking his wife to stop a behavior that is obviously upsetting him. Instead, he orders someone else to kill her because even the act of killing her is beneath him. Even in statements that on the surface appear to be humble, the duke furthers his arrogance. He says, "Even had you skill/In speech--(which I have not)--"There is a great deal of irony in this line because the duke's claim not to have skill in speech is said in the middle of a speech expertly constructed. He chooses words that express his authority and his education along with what he was trying to say. The duke knows that he has great skill in speech and he also knows that the emissary knows this. He is only saying that he does not possess skill in speech because he knows that his audience will not believe him. His show of modesty is merely an illusion

In Conclusion, the further you read this poem the more the Duke begins to reveal his true nature. Even though the Duke speaks as though he is giving praise to his untimely departed wife, he is merely telling the emissary,as well as the readers, of her imperfections in his eyes and hints to his own behavior. Infact, everything he says about his duchess reveals more of him than it does her