My Last duchess

A detailed Summary of My Last duchess

The Duke's jealousy, of the attention his Duchess received, cultivated his selfishness of her in a two-dimensional way, thus leading to his having her killed. In "My Last Duchess", the reader is forced to view the Duchess from a two dimensional viewpoint, focusing on her smile. As a two-dimensional figure the Duchess's passion and beauty is seen by her countenance and the vibrancy of her smile. She is just a painting but spoken about as if the painting was a live figure, for while alive she was only thought about for her beauty and impression. The Duchess is viewed even in life to lack any depth, and no focus on her mentality or feelings. The Duke keeps her this way so he can preserve her beauty without sharing it with other males. His contempt of her led to his orders for her death. The Duchess was a beauty and thus her features attracted many suitors. She basked in the attention, thus irritating the Duke to the point that he felt neglected.

The Duke explained his feelings of jealousy to an agent. He explained how she flirted with others and drew in their attention, such as the painter of her painting, a monk. We see how much he over reacts

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] gave commands; / Then all the smiles stopped together. [And] there she stands / As if alive" (ln.45-47). The more the Duchess had smiled, even to him, the more he became irritated that he could not hide her from the world. His order to kill her thus settled that predicament, removing her from the world, and hiding her two-dimensional beauty behind a curtain for only him to see.

by becoming jealous of the attention the monk draws from her, for a monk has a vow of celibacy and has no sexual thoughts or intentions. He felt that others saw her being receptive to the attention, and thus would ask "Sir, 'twas not / Her husband's presence only, called that spot / Of joy into the Duchess's cheek" (ln.13-15). The Duke saw that his Duchess lighted up at the attention of others, and that the happiness and smiles she shares with him are not just for him. He had noticed that "she liked whate'er / She looked on, and her looks went everywhere" (ln.23-24). It was not just her smile flirtatious looks that bothered him and created his jealousy; the Duke also saw that she accepted gifts

Some common words found in the essay are:
Duke Duchess, , special smile,

Approximate Word count = 776
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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My Last duchess

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