"My Last Duchess"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and analyzes the poem "My Last Duchess" written by Robert Browning. The paper describes the way in which the poem depicts the subject's desire to control the females in his life, particularly his wife and how, when he cannot do this in life, he does it through a painting in her death. It also analyzes the imagery and symbolism that is portrayed in the poem to describe these desires.

From the Paper:

"The Duchess no longer has the beating heart "too soon made glad." The painting lacks the uncontrollable changing of color that affects a living human face. The Duke had no control over the Duchess' face in life but now her cheek is frozen in the painting and she need only look at him. It is as if the Duke wished to have a painting of a woman, a dead woman frozen in image like a corpse behind the wall of a coffin, rather than a woman with real desires. Even the idea of speaking to a woman, acknowledging that she displeased him, is abhorrent to the mind of the Duke--better to have an image he can control and 'read' and interpret for the listener, instead."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Browning, Robert. "My Last Duchess." The Victorian Web. Last modified 13 Jul 2003. [8 Jul 2006] http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/duchess.html

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