The Controlling Nature of the Duke in Robert Browning's My Last Duchess

Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is a sinister poem that tells of several events in the life of a sixteenth century Italian count named Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, including the questionable death of his wife Lucrezia and the duke's efforts to arrange another marriage after her death. In Browning's poem, the duke is in the act of negotiating the terms of a possible union with an agent on behalf of the family of the young woman that he wishes to marry, however, his conversation turns to the subject of his deceased wife. The duke speaks of her condescendingly, and the language and images that Browning employs to convey the duke's feelings about "last duchess" are damaging to the duke's character because they reveal him to be a controlling and dominating individual-a husband who wishes to have complete authority over his wife.

Browning prominently displays these characteristics in the title of the poem and in the first line. The words that the duke uses to refer to his late wife immediately lead the reader to a negative assumption regarding the duke's views about marriage. His label of his wife as "my last duchess," (1) contains controlling language. The duke not only uses the possessive "my" when speaking of her, but he also refers to her as his "last Duchess," making the reader conscious of the fact that she was little more than a possession of the duke's while she was alive. The idea is further exemplified as the poem progresses and the duke proudly shows off the portrait of his "last Duchess" (1), telling the agent that she is "painted on the wall,/ Looking as if she were alive. I call/ that piece a wonder..." (1-3). The image that Browning creates throughout these lines is appalling-the duke speaks of the duchess as if she were a piece of art, merely another work that he has added to his private collection.

Browning reveals more of the duke's desire to control his wife in line 9 when the duke admits that no one is allowed access to the duchess' portrait without his permission: "since none puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I" (9). His ability to maintain complete control over the duchess in death is a source of pride for the duke, and the fact that this statement is in parenthesis suggests that the duke goes out of his way to make it known to his guest. Browning also emphasizes the haughty personality of the duke as a reason for his overwhelming desire for dominance over his wife. The duke states that his wife should have been more appreciative of his "gift of a nine-hundred-years-old-name," (33) implying that her subservience to him ought to have been a natural act of gratitude, but instead, she was more thankful to others who gave her far less.

The duke's inability to completely dominate the duchess infuriates him, and he reveals in lines 45 and 46 the menacing words, "I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together" (45-46). This line is perhaps the most damaging evidence against the duke's character because it strongly evokes a reaction in the reader-that the duke resorted to sinister methods to permanently control his wife. Although it seems odd that the duke discloses this unpleasant information to the agent, he does so with the intention of issuing a clear warning to his prospective bride-obey, or face the grim consequences. Browning finalizes the poem with the duke commenting upon a statue of Neptune: "Taming a seahorse, though a rarity" (55). This last remark confirms the validity of the controlling nature of the duke. By imagining himself as Neptune-the tamer of those who possess a disobedient temperament, and imagining women, such as his late wife, as the rarely tamed seahorse, the duke leaves no doubt as to his severe expectations regarding obedience and submissiveness in his future duchess.

Works Cited

Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 2B: The Victorian Age. 8^th edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2005.