Take the perspective of one person within the poem, chosen from the following list:
- The Duchess. Describe some of your experiences both in the early years of your marriage and throughout the painting of your commissioned portrait. How do you view life, and what do you think of the people around you, including your husband, the Duke? What sorts of things delighted you?
- The Count's envoy. Based on your knowledge of the Duke through his own words, what kind of life can the Count's daughter expect as the new Duchess? Do you recommend that she marry the Duke? Why or why not? Use the Duke's own words to prepare your argument to the Count.
- Brother Pandolf. write down your thoughts about all of your paintings, and the experiences that shaped their creation. You have finally decided to write down your feelings about the Duchess and her husband, the Duke Ferrara. Based on your knowledge of the events, describe the Duchess, the Duke, and their relationship. Your assessment should be based on facts, rather than speculation.
http://aplitmd.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-last-duchess-commentary.html
ReplyDeleteThe Duke is very controlling in everything he does. If he isn't the boss, then he doesn't want anything to do with it. The count's daughter is going to have a pretty interesting time with the Duke. The Duke doesn't want his duchess to be smiling or blushing at anyone else, only in his presence. The last duchess did this and look where she is now, dead. The Duke kept very close tabs on her as well, almost like he was stalking her. He didn't allow her to smile to everyone. The "spot of joy" on her cheek wasn't only seen by him and this angered him so he made sure that it was most certainly only him that was making her blush. I don't think she should marry the duke. If she does, she should be prepared for a long life of having a boss as a husband, ruling her every second of her life. Telling her what to do and when to do it and when not to do it. If she marries him, "then all the smiles stop" eventually. In case you didn't get the hint on this, the duke will kill her.
ReplyDeleteFrom the perspective of the Count’s Envoy, I do not think the marrying the Duke would be a smart choice. There are multiple lines in which the Duke conveys his jealousy and perhaps madness. After showing the Count’s envoy the painting of his last duchess he began to describe her attitude. “A heart-how shall I say?- too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed; she liked wate’er” (lines 22-23). When describing her, the Duke uses the word “too” twice which suggests he is very judgmental of how his duchess acted towards other men as explicated later in the poem. Had the author not used “too” the reader would not be as suspicious of the Duke’s opinion of his last duchess. After discussing with the Convoy what he were to do about his duchesses constant blushing, he finally says that he “gave commands; / Then the smiles stopped together.” (lines 45-46). The duchess was known to constantly be smiling and blushing, so that leads the reader to think she’d only stop if she were dead. It can be inferred from these lines that the Duke had his last duchess killed because she blushed so much. Finally, in the last few lines of the poem, when the convoy and the Duke go downstairs, the Duke shows the convoy one last piece of art. “Notice Neptune, though, / Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, / Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!” (lines 54-56). The artist made the statue specifically for the Duke which suggests that the statue is a reflection of the Duke’s character or personality. The Duke (Neptune) wanted to tame his duchess, just as Neptune was able to tame the sea horse. The Duke has a very controlling, and judgemental personality which could get dangerous for the next duchess, as the last one the Duke presumably had killed. The next duchess could expect a life of little freedom, and patriarch due to the Duke’s overly jealous, and extreme personality. Marrying the Duke could result in a oppressed life, and possibly end in a premature death.
ReplyDeleteThe Duke is a jealous man with a superiority complex who is looking for a new girl that he can shape into the role of his wife as he pleases. His late wife, who he keeps a portrait of to keep her “alive” in his life, is presumably killed by the Dukes’ demands. This can be inferred from lines 45-46 which reads, “I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together.” The Duke had his last duchess killed because she did not appreciate him or treat him how he wanted her to. We see this when the Duke says, “She smiles, no doubt, / Whene’er I passed her; but who passes without / Much the same smile?” The duchess did not treat the Duke like he was better than everyone else like he thought he was. The Duke thought of himself as a superior being, and the ruler of the relationship, however, the duchess treated him like any other man. His new wife will take on the role that his late wife could not fill to his wishes. The Duke will have the only say over his new wife, which will most likely leave her depressed and hopelessly stuck in a marriage that will be both physically and emotionally suffocating. This is why I cannot condone any new marriage between the Duke and any other innocent girl.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the Duchess, I would not want to marry the Duke. This would be for a multitude of reasons. First, he is a control freak; he cannot handle being without power. One example of this is how he forces himself to speak in organized meter and rhyme. "The Count your master’s known munificence...Is ample warrant that no just pretence...Of mine for dowry will be disallowed...(49-51)" The way he speaks, he is visibly trying to hold himself to this high form of voice. Second, he is very jealous and protective over "his" women. His previous wife seemed to be flirting with other people. The Duke could not handle this. "Sir, ’twas not...Her husband’s presence only, called that spot...Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek (13-15)." He did not think his wife should find pleasure in anything besides himself, a hallmark of an abusive husband by today's standards. Whether or not she was actually flirting is another debate, but the fact he murdered her because of this is definitely shocking. Lastly, he is literally descending into madness. This is beyond just being unreasonable or mean, he is legitimately insane. "THAT’S my last Duchess painted on the wall...Looking as if she were alive.(1-2)" He does not seem to notice a difference between the deceased woman and the figure in the painting: to him, they are one and the same. In conclusion, from the point of view of the Duchess, I would not marry the Duke. Not only is he a control freak, but he is also extremely jealous and is visibly descending into madness.
ReplyDeleteCount's Envoy:
ReplyDeleteSir, I have returned from my mission to discuss the marriage of your daughter to the Duke. After doing so I can declare beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is in your best interests that the Duke wed your daughter. The Duke is a fine gentleman of great standing. The unification of your two houses will only greaten the stature of both parties. Also, should your daughter marry the Duke she will most certainly be transformed into an even finer young lady. The Duke does not tolerate idle flirtations, and will ensure that she is the pure young lady that you expect her to be.
The Duchess:
ReplyDeleteMy marriage with the Duke was special at first, otherwise I wouldn’t have married him, but as time progressed, he became more controlling with his power. “Or blush, at least. She thanked men- good! but thanked Somehow- I know not how- as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred years-old name With anybody’s gift.” (Lines 31-34) Men were nice to me and did favors for me so naturally I would thank them. I never meant to flirt with other men or anger the Duke, but he could never confront me so I couldn’t explain to him my actions. “Who’d stoop to blame This sort of trifling? Even had you skill In speech- which I have not- to make your will...” (Lines 34-36) The Duke couldn’t even talk to me because I was unimportant to him and he “wasn’t good at speaking”. Well he is certainly good enough at speaking to talk about me after killing me. With this line, the Duke is revealing his “power” and controlling qualities as he believes he is above me. Earlier in the poem, he describes the color on my cheeks as a spot of joy. (Line 21) This suggests that the Duke was upset that I would enjoy other things in my life besides him. He calls it a spot, not even blushing. Calling it a spot makes it seem as though it’s something he doesn’t want to think about. The Duke was always so concerned with having control over me rather than just loving me. I enjoyed having many friends, and the Duke didn’t understand that which is why he killed me. He thought I was flirting with all these men, but I really was just being kind to them. There’s not reason to be rude to someone if they’re being nice to you. The Duke did not realize this character about me, so he killed me. (Line 46)
Count, sir, I think I have a very clear view of the Duke of Ferrara and how he will treat your daughter. After spending some time with him, I am able to conclude that the Duke is an extremely jealous, vengeful, and controlling man. If he isn’t the only one paid attention to, he goes to the extreme to make sure that he is. As he was describing his past wife to me, his true self became evident. His arrogance became prevalent right when he bragged about having Fra Pandolf paint his wife. He went into how such great detail the painter did and that the painter’s name is enough to show how nice it is. The duke also made a big deal about how special he believes his “nine-hundred-years-old name” and almost went crazy from the fact that his last wife wasn’t majorly impressed by it. If that wasn’t already enough, he has so much confidence in himself that he believes you will just hand over any amount of dowry that he requests. The Duke’s last Duchess seems like a very kind lady. She was happy, she liked everything and everybody, and she was nice to everyone. The Duke had a problem with this. He told me that “She had a heart too soon to be made glad, too easily impressed”. He thinks that he is deserving of more praise than anyone else, probably even more so than yourself, sir. The Duke will never be able to maintain a marriage with any fine lady, for he believes it to be too low to discuss their problems! He even said so himself, “Who’d stoop to blame this sort of trifling?”. He likes to be in control and have control over others. He even tried to have control over me! Once he decided he didn’t want to deal with his last duchess any longer, the Duke told me “I gave commands, then all smiles stopped together.” He must have done something horrible sir. He has absolutely zero respect for women, clearly. He probably killed his last wife, and so far he isn’t positive about your daughter, for he is already calling her “my object”. To the Duke, women aren’t even people, and who knows what he might do to your daughter if she just so happens to do something that he doesn’t like.
ReplyDelete