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. 

Loved, But Wasn't Loved

3.        The duchess was a man magnet; they were all in awe of her. She was married though, her husband loved her so much, “she had a heart” he says but she didn’t love him as much as he loved her. This was upsetting to the duke and he hated the way she treated him. Here was her husband and she treated him like any other man. In lines, 30-39 says ,”she thanked men, - good! But thanked somehow-as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift…” He feels undervalued. This hurt him the most, he would show is love for her, shower her with complements and she treated him the same way when she got compliments from any other men. Eventually he cuts her off, he kills her, divorces her, something, ”oh sir, she smiled no doubt, whene’er I passed her; but passed without much the same smile? Then all smiles stopped together.” (43-46) he got fed up with the way she treated him, and he let her go.

The Duke of Hazard

There are several trivial incident that may have sent the Duke over the edge to divorce/ kill his Duchess. One instance is when his Duchess is when he let her ride a white mule around in a white orchard and thanked many men, not just her husband which made the duke think that she was ungrateful. This is shown in the quote “The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace -- all and each Would draw from her alike the approving speech, Or blush, at least. She thanked men, -- good! but thanked Somehow -- I know not how” which describes the whole incident. Another incident is when the Duchess seemed to dislike/ stop being happy around the Duke when he gave her commands which made him feel like she was not happy to serve him. This is shown in the quote “ but who passed without Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands”. Lastly there was one incident where the Duchess suspected that she loved someone else as shown by the quote “'twas not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess' cheek” when he was thinking that perhaps he was not the only one she loved. Those are all of the trivial incidents that may have sent the Duke over the edge to divorce/ kill his last Duchess.

Divorcing the Duchess

"She rode with round the terrace -- all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
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." ('My Last Duchess'-Robert Browning)

The speaker, being a duke, seems to have some personal problems with his marriage to his wife, who is a duchess. He divorced his duchess because he presumed she did not love him as her husband; treated him like any other man she met. He thought that she treated their marriage as if nothing but a promise, yet she had broken it. It seemed she loved all men equally to her husband and he didn't think this was righteous.


"Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; 

Then all smiles stopped together [...]

The Count you master's known munifence

Is ample warrant that no just pretence

Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;" ('My Last Duchess'-Robert Browning)

Of course the duke loved his wife, but if she did not handle the reins of their marriage with every ounce of her blood from her heart and within her, he had no choice but to divorce her if things weren't working out.
He was afraid she wasn't happy with him; he wants nothing but for her to be happy, so he thought it best they split the reins of their marriage in the midst of her appeal to other men in relations to him. The duke had questioned her authority and who her heart belongs to, and it seemed that he had judged his last duchess wrong. She loved him, but he was blinded and overly jealous by how she had treated other men in that sense. She was not happy when they had divorced, and in the hands of fate she had died in misery. The duke felt empathy for his wife in her death, and wished he had not divorced her knowing she had actually loved him more than any man. He would give up all his possessions for her happiness and in the face of the trivial incidents he assumed would end their marriage and make her happy, but it didn't.

Fatal Happiness

The Duke seems to be very insecure with his marriage and turns to methods of elimination to get rid of his Duchess. He does this because he feels as if his Duchess values other men as much as himself. The duke says this in the line 24 when he says “She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.” The Duke feels as though he should be valued more than others. There are many situations where it seems questionable if the Duchess was faithful to the Duke. One of these times is when many other men could please her with gifts very easily. The Duke describes this in line 27 through 31 “The bough of cherries some officious fool/broke in the orchard for her…all and each/would draw from her alike the approving speech, / of blush at least…” The Duke felt as though he always gave the Duchess so much and she did not care. He states this in line 32 and 33 “ Somehow- I know not how –as if she ranked/ My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/ with anybody’s gift.” These few incidents are simple things that made the Duke jealous of other men. The Duchess did not believe she was doing anything wrong but she later found out that these simple things were worthy of death.

The Cruel and Unusual Duke

     
    The Duke is a person who saw much fault in his wife. There were many things he saw in her that displeased him. It often makes the reader wonder how they even got to the point of marriage. Line number 45 states "This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands as if alive." This statement by the speaker suggests that he did something to get rid of his wife, which can be assumed was a violent or cruel act. However, throughout the poem, the reader may observe that the Duchess annoyed in more subtle, peculiar ways. On line number 22, the author writes, "A heart - how shall I say? - too soon made glad, Too easily impressed;" This statement suggests an idea of annoyance from the speaker. A flaw of being "easily impressed," is one that is commonly thought of by people who are annoyed by the person they are criticizing. The fact that the speaker chose to classify his dead wife this way shows that he is not going to mourn her death, but instead enjoy the fact that he can point out her flaws freely. Secondly, the speaker says on line 32 "Somehow - I know not how- as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody's gift." This statement by the speaker shows that the Duke was angry with the Duchess because his gift was not valued over the gifts of other men. She did not show extra appreciation for the Duke's gift and that enraged the Duke. These two are great examples of how the Duchess angered the Duke.

The Duchess's Equality Policy

Question 3- In “The Last Duchess”, the Duke orders to have his Duchess eliminated because he felt that the duchess did not value him. He tells the audience that there were reasons that caused this feeling. He stated, “ Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, whenever I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile?”( Lines 43-45).  At first, he thought that she smiled at him only, but then realized that she smiled at everyone. She found it a courteous gesture and so she smiled at everyone. It did not mean anything for her, but for the Duke it was a symbol of love. In the beginning, he doesn't mind the smile, but later on he gets sick of the smile. The smile starts to become a symbol of hate. A trivial thing like a smile caused him to punish his wife. Another example of a trivial incident is that she talked to men and treated everyone equally. The duke wanted to be treated better than the other men, but the duchess didn't sense that so she treated everyone the same. According to the Duke, “ Or blush, at least. She thanked me, - 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 30-34). The Duke felt like that he was not respected better. He felt that she talked to too many other men and did not talk enough to him. She again treated everyone equally, which was a problem to him. She blushed when she talked with other men, and the duke thought that she was not loyally respected to him. When he states that he doesn't know how his gift was ranked the same means that he doesn't know why he was treated the same as the other men. The trivial actions of smiling and talking to other men caused the Duke to eliminate his wife because he was mad that she treated everyone equally.