Sympathy Towards a Conceited Duke?

                The Duke of Ferrara has a condescending, conceited attitude in the poem "My Last Duchess". He is the narrator of the story and speaks directly to the reader. The Duke causes us to have much sympathy for him even though he has such an offensive personality. Robert Browning makes us feel sympathy for this persona because his choice of Diction and syntax makes us read what he did but not fully acknowledge it. Browning’s choice of diction is selected in a time from the 1800s so the word choice is very timeworn. The use of words he picks may not be very clear to the reader, so we do not automatically get the hidden meaning of the poem. So we do not know that the Duke has eliminated his wife because she was flirtatious. Browning’s syntax also makes us feel sympathy for the Duke because at first he insinuates that his wife died of a tragedy. In line 1 he says, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive” (Browning).  The reader may think that the Duke is mourning the death of his wife, but as you continue to read the reader realizes that the Duke was jealous of his wife and her enticing behavior towards other men.  You feel sympathy for him then again because he does not feel loved by his own wife. Robert Browning has the reader feel sympathy towards the Duke of Ferrara because his syntax and diction of the poem. 

-Tiana