As well as the Duke treating his wife as a possession, the poem describes the Duke to show some of male’s worst stereotypical behaviour when in marriage. The poem shows the Duke to be over controlling, arrogant and several times, shows him being jealous because of how his wife acts. The poem shows the Dukes arrogance best; firstly when he is talking about how his ex-wife didn’t realise the gift he gave her and he says, “she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name with anybody’s gift” and also when he talks about forgiving her and says that he would but doesn’t want to belittle himself, “E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose never to stoop.” These quotes show us that the Duke is very arrogant and how he believes he is so much better than everyone, this can be seen in both quotes as in the first quote he believes his name is much better than anything else, and more so in the second quote as he believes himself to be so much better than everyone else and stresses that he will not lower himself by forgiving, even his wife. The poem also shows the Dukes jealousy, which can best be seen when he talks about how his wife treats him just as she treats everyone else and how he feels this isn’t right. The poem shows us that the Duke thinks that the looks she gaves out to strangers should just be for him, “She smiled no dout, when I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile?” And also when he explains that she is too easily tempted and often gives ‘the eye,’ “too easily impressed; she liked whateve’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere.” These quotes show us that the Dukes jealousy stems from the way his ex-wife acted around others but also shows that his jealousy is for something he could have -as there is no distinct sign in the poem that they had a sexual relationship- and when he sees his wife giving ‘the eye’ he realises what he’s not getting? The poem also shows us that the Duke is very paranoid because of his wife, this is best revealed when he talks about the painter and painting and how she was shown flushed and how many have asked how she got that passionate glance on her face, “how such a glance came there…. perhaps Fra’ Pandolf chances to say ‘her mantle laps over my lady’s wrist to much’ or ‘paint must never hope to reproduce the faint half-flush that dies along her throat.” This quote shows that the Duke is very paranoid that his wife has been unfaithful to him, he fears the way his wife is always giving people ‘the eye’ and also believes that his ex-wife and Fra’ Pandolf may have been together, and he uses his time when painting her picture to flirt,chat-up and touch her.
Throughout the poem the poet describes the Dukes ex-wife pretty well but he leaves us one thing to question, ‘is she alive or dead?’ This is revealed at the very start of the poem when the Duke talks about how she and the painting looks and says, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive, I call that a piece of wonder, now.” This quote tells us that he is not with her anymore and although does say ‘as if she were alive’ and therefore imply that she is dead, could mean two things, one being that she’s dead but the other being that she is just dead in his heart? The quote also suggests that she wasn’t a thing of wonder before she left him as he says ‘I call that a piece of wonder, now’ but could also mean that he didn’t see how beautiful she was until now?
The poem also shows us how he uses a sinister edge to many of his words, this is shown throughout the poem and is best shown when he is talking about his ex-wife. An example of this is when he is talking about the things about her that disgusted him, “Just this or that in you disgusts me,” another example is when he is talking about the look on her face in the painting and says, “For calling up that spot of joy.” A final example of how his words have a sinister edge to them is when he is talking about how he wants to change her and says, “If she let herself be lessoned so.” All these quotes show a sinister edge to his speech but this sinister edge is best shown in the quote, “If she let her be lessoned so,” as he uses the word lessons instead of a more appropriate word such as taught. This use of the word ‘lessoned’ is an innuendo as it means for her to be taught but also implies that he wants to make her feel ‘smaller’ and change her into less of a person.
The poem also shows us how the Duke suffers from not only paranoia but also a sexual disgust. This is firstly hinted at the very start of the poem when we find out that even now, the Duke keeps the picture of his last Duchess hidden away behind a curtain, and then further shown when he talks about the painter and his wife. The poem suggest that the Dukes sexual disgust towards his ex-wife was due to the way she behaved around other men and is best shown when he talks about what he thinks happened when she was having her painting. This idea about sexual paranoia/disgust of his ex-wife and Fra’ Pandolf first comes to show near the very beginning of the poem and is shown repeatedly in words which have a double meanings. The first example of this is when the Duke says, “Fra’ Pandolf’s hands worked busily a day,” this quote shows us that he suspects Fra’ Pandolf’s hands of working all day on his ex-wife, and not on the painting. Another example of his is when he is explaining that Fra’ Pandolf’s had a the opportunity to chat her up, and how he believes he did, and he says “Fra’ Pandolf’s chanced to say ‘her mantle laps over my lady’s wrist to much’ or ‘paint must never hope to reproduce that faint half-flush along her throat.” This quote shows us many words which could have a sexual double meaning, for example when he says, “her mantle laps over my lady’s wrist to much” this use of the word laps suggests licking and tongues, and also when he says, “Paint must never hope to reproduce that faint half-flush along her throat.” This quote shows two words, which have a double meaning one being flush, which suggests blushing and sexual excitement and emotions, and the other being throat, which suggests that the painter is looking at her neck/upper chest area.
MARK ANDREWS
