My Last Duchess

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The poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is an excellent demonstration of how men in relationships treat women possessively and attempt to control their sexuality. From the very first line, the Duke talks to the emissary about his wife in a possessive manner: “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall” (Browning); notice the use of the possessive pronoun. The use of the possessive language, along with the haughty nature of the Duke leads one to conclude that he was raised with the idea that women are mere creatures owned by men instilled him. This theory is proven to be true when, towards the end of the poem, the Duke belittles his late wife to a mere possession that will be soon updated with a new one as the Duke was going to marry again …show more content…
This comes as a surprise, especially considering the fact that the intention of the author is to portray the Duke in a negative light. However, as one reads the poem, it becomes clear that primary reason behind the Duke’s unhappiness with his first wife was due to the fact that his late wife was rather carefree and unprofessional: “Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er/She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (23-24). The Duke also complains that his wife did not pay enough respect to his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33-34). While these lines appear to be criticizing the Duke’s controlling nature, an unintentional message sent forth by this implies that had the Duke’s wife been more obedient, they would have had a “successful” marriage; suggesting that wives should be just mere obedient slaves to their …show more content…
While one might consider this to be yet another instance of the Duke’s shameless bragging, this reference can be viewed as the Duke “taming” his wife; suggesting that men would be happy with a wife who is very much like a trained horse. This is no doubt some very dangerous advice as this would give men an excuse to overpower their wives, while many women will become overly submissive to ensure the success of their marriages; resulting dysfunctional marriages where the men would wield too much power, while the women are powerless and have no voice. Unfortunately, these kinds of marriages are already common throughout the
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