Characterization of The Duke of Ferrara in My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

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Characterization of The Duke of Ferrara in My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "officious" during the 19th century as "eager to please; attentive, obliging." In the dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess by Robert Browning, this word describes a servant that is volunteering his service unnecessarily to the Duke of Ferrara’s wife. Although the speaker, the Duke of Ferrara, is speaking of this servant in a negative manner, he wishes his wife to be officious towards him; the Duke of Ferrara wishes to have total control. So, the Duke is both discouraging and discouraging officiousness, depending on whom it is directed. The Duke of Ferrara emphasizes his need for power and control over his wife, and demonstrates obvious signs of being a "control freak," whether it be purposefully or inadvertently, through the style of the dialogue, composition of the dialogue, and the treatment of the messenger that emphasizes the role of the listener.

The poem gains the reader’s interest from the very beginning with this line: "That is my last Duche...

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