The Jealous Duke

The Jealous Duke

Question-
3. The Duke eliminated (divorced? sent to a convent? had executed or poisoned?) his last duchess because (he felt) she undervalued him and treated him much as she treated other men. Which trivial incidents in particular seem to have produced this response in the Duke?

In the poem “My Last Duchess,” it tells the story about a Duke who is telling a story about his wife through a painting he had done of her. This painting was painted by an artist named Frá Pandolf who accurately portrayed his wife’s personality through the expression on the Duchesses face. The duchesses was a very loving person, she treated everyone equally and with respect. For example she would smile at her husband, the Duke, the same way she would smile at a commoner/ a complete stranger.

 “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, whene’er I passed her; but who passed without much as a smile” (line 42). 

 This quote is expressing how he was jealous of hoe she treated everyone equal, and how she would smile at everyone the same way; not giving him any special recognition. Even though he says,

 “E’en then would be some stooping, and I chose never to stoop” (line 41).

 This quote is saying how he would not stoop to tell her of his jealousy toward him “flirting.” Although later in the story he implies that after he confronted her about her smiling and flirting she later died. This was implied by the line saying, 

“then all smiles stop together” (line 46). 

In analysis of the poem, these lines implied that due to his jealousy he killed her. These were the trivial events that led to her death, which hidden in the poem, hinted that she died due to her husband murdering her.

By Whitney Marshall