Browning's portrayal of Duke and Duchess' relationship

A number of the words used likewise connect to his love of belongings. In this poem the styles connect to the Dukes attitude which is arrogance and high self-importance however also that pride is not an appealing quality the Duke conceit discovers rather plainly when talking about himself and his ownerships also that having money and ownerships aren't whatever yes the Duke may have a massive house and paintings but his paranoia about his last Duchess comes across and shows his insecurity.

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In my last Duchess punctuation is utilized to reveal it's a speech "she had a heart-- how shall I state?- too quickly made glad."

This poem is a type of speech and using punctuation tell us that is unrehearsed which he needs to believe about his words, this speech is also pretending to be a conversation. It's divided up into rhyming couplets to simulate an unrehearsed speech there are lots of twists within the lines which is shown by the variety of punctuation.

This is a one way Conversation which reveals that his conceit does not allow anybody else to speak.

His arrogance is revealed when he says "never to stoop" he will never lose his self-respect, he will not sink to the Duchess level that makes it appear like Duke is humiliated to be with a woman whose immaturity levels are a lot lower than his. Robert browning composed "My last Duchess" in Victorian England when there were issues surrounding the darker side of relationships and marriage. This was a time of patriarchal dominance where women were controlled by guys; men were very controlling and marriage was oppressive and repressive it made ladies feel locked up in their domestic sphere.

Woman were also punished if they did not obey their fathers or husbands this is where brutal dominance would come’s into it, women would be abused by their fathers and husbands for not following commands “I gave commands; then all the smiles stopped all together” this part of the poem shows the male dominance but it brings questions to the mind ‘Who did he command?’ ‘What did he command?’ ‘Is the command that he gave the reason why she is dead?’ all these questions haveno answer they just make you think about the possibilities of what could have happened. In this paragraph I will specifically highlight the points I think most show the relationship between the Duke and Duchess.

Jealousy is not shown until the end of the poem, the duke is so proud of his possession that nothing could change it “ but who passed without much the same smile” this quote tells us that the Duchess’s smile is the same for everyone and that the smile she smiled with to a peasant for instants is the same smile she uses for he husband this indicates that the Duke is jealous of the way she treats other men, considering as Duke always referred to the Duchess an objects it’s hard to understand why he would be jealous.

His sense of ownership “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall” he is saying it’s his Duchess no-one else’s he feels like has full ownership of her and perhaps that’s why he was getting jealous. Superiority is another “As if she Ranked” this quote shows his lack of superiority, she is just a women I am the main thing here, I am the great one, he is saying that in all honesty she is not In his ranks he married her for the dowry, he brought her like an object you buy at shop which makes it seem like she was not actually wanted by him. In conclusion the Duke and Duchess’s relationship is not equal he sees her as a possession while she sees him as a husband.