The Duke's Revenge

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?

            The Duke is a cold and controlling man who, if the object is not up to his standards, he sees it as worthless and must be removed. He similarly treated his last Duchess as an object, and because she undervalued him, he eliminated her. The incident in particular that created the particular response was her treating him the same as everyone else, when “she smiled…Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile?” The Duke was treated the same as her other male admirers- men who “broke in the orchard for her” were the same as the man who gave her the “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name”. His love for the Duchess was unrequited, so he “gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together”. The Duchess was finally eliminated, because the Duke felt that no smiles were better than the generic ones. 

Jealousy, Painted on the Wall

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?

There are many trivial incidents that produced the response of killing his wife from Duke. Throughout the book, he explains many events and why he feels that he is unvalued. He says, “She had A heart...Too easily impressed.(Line ” This makes the Duchess seem shallow. Another incident is when he says “She thanked men, - good! but thanked..as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody's gift." The Duke is telling us that she treats anyone's gift equally to his. This makes him feel jealous, and he thinks that his gift should be worth more to him than anyone else's.

Gordon Zhong

The Duke's Jealousy

3. The Duke of Ferrara is a conceded man. He disposed of his wife because he felt that she treated him just like all other men, not like her husband. Two examples of this is on lines 22 23 where it states, “A heart-how shall I say?-too soon made glad,” and “Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er.” These lines are talking about how easily she was amused or impressed by other men who were not the Duke. She gave smiles to all of them in the same way and appreciated their efforts. On line 27 it says, “The bough of cherries some officious fool.” This is talking about how some unimportant fool in the Duke’s eyes, and the Duchess appreciated it just as much as his, “gift of a nine-hundred years old name” which is the marriage between them and the title of Duchess. The Duke becomes so jealous and angry that he finally decides to execute his wife. One lines 45 and 46 the Duke says, “I gave commands; Then all the smiles stopped together.” The Duke knew now that the Duchess would never again smile, at any man, or at himself.

-John-Michael Osley

Question 3: Trivial Incidents Against the Duke

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?

             The Duke seemed to be pleased with the beauty of his wife but unimpressed with her “defining qualities”. He felt as though she undermined him as a man and as a husband treating other men the same as he; he took this in a way of him having insignificance. In the poem he referenced, “A heart-how shall I say?-too soon made glad, too easily impressed.” This would make any man feel unimportant. He would have been put into a trivial position of not feeling the same as other men she conversed with. This could also be interpreted as her only liking the Duke because she liked everything about everyone. This would have struck anger into any man. This would be what eventually caused him to snap and “eliminate” his Duchess.

-Cooper Snowbarger

A trivial matter

During the poem, the Duke eliminated the duchess for such a trivial matter as the fact that the duchess would smile the same to everyone, saying to the reader ""oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, whenever I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile? this grew; I gave the commands, then the smiles stopped together."(The last duchess, Robert browning). this phrase shows that just because the duchess was being as kind to all as she was to him, he had her "eliminated". Also, earlier in the poem it states that "all and each would draw from her alike the approving speech... She thanked them" The duke was angered by the fact that other men were flirting with his wife, and saw her thanking them as an insult to his authority by the duchess. After The duke had seen this and the smiling at everyone, he felt the problem was growing and must stop so he had her "eliminated.
-Response to Prompt 3

Why The Duke's Last Duchess was the Duke's Last Duchess

Prompt 3 -
The Duchess was a very joyful person that valued  everybody equally with respect. She was always joyful. This would make the Duke impatient. The Duke wanted that his very own wife respect him, and enjoy his presence more than any other man. The duchess would thanked all men for their goods. including their willingness to break into fields to get her cherries, as well as their complements. The dutch was really jealous, claiming he wanted to exceed the other men. He had gifted her a nine - hundred year old name but she acted like it was any name. Thus, the dutch had her executed. In the poem, it says: "This grew; I gave commands; Then all the smiles stopped altogether." This implies that the duke did not want to live as if he was equal to other men. He also implies her execution using the fact that he was not subject to a trial in court.

 - Rahul Verma