My Last Duchess Analysis

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Recommended: The portrayal of women in 19th century literature

Professor Papica
English 1B
4 April 2014

Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess:
Pretentious Killer
The poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is not as mournful and heartbreaking as the title suggests. In fact, the poem is extremely dramatic and disrespectful towards women, making them seem as if women were dumb foolish objects. Many have wondered about the disposable aspects of women in the 1840’s, and the objective view men had towards them at the time. Browning’s poem portrays the idea of men’s misogynistic views towards women in the 1840’s. At the time when the poem takes place in the 1500’s it was considered the norm to see women as lesser beings .This idea of irrational male dominance in a relationship is also portrayed in the poem “My Last Duchess”, through the inexplicable and irrational actions of the Duke (the speaker of the poem). The Duke is a disrespectful, pretentious, evil man that has the power to dispose of whomever he wishes and the ability to attract and obtain anything and anyone he wants. The Duke is portrayed as a rich, lavish individual with expensive tastes and is known to be a very mysterious and cold hearted man, getting rid of any imperfections towards his self-image. He justifies his actions against his Duchess as reasonable because he claims she did not meet the proper criteria for the prestigious position of being his wife. The narrator sets a questionable, mystery filled mood with all his remarks that suggest he is unpleased with his women and the dark alluding actions he took to address them. Throughout the text he conveys himself as a very prestigi...

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...ic views men had towards women in the past by showing how little she meant in their relationship and how easily and merciless he disposed of her without a trace. Unfortunately, however the speaker also show signs of disrespect in his person demonstrating he was terrible person. An example of his rude manner is in the way he addressed to people in the most degrading manner he could think of. He does not have a specific group that he mistreats. For him it does not matter if they are peasants or noblemen he will still address to them as lesser beings. This all proves that the Duke in fact is a terrible person he has no respect for anyone not even his wife. Throughout the end of the story the audience realizes how misogynistic and pretentious the speaker truly is by noticing how he mistreats others and by taking to notice the murderous act he committed against his wife.

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