"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

            “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning. The narrator has a sarcastic tone throughout. From the very beginning when he says, “I call that piece a wonder, now,” his treatment of the painting of his wife is condescending and jocular. It is ironic that he behaves this way because we would expect the narrator, presumably a duke, to have an air of respect, sadness, or at least melancholy when talking about his deceased wife. The duke comments that “ ‘twas not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess’ cheek.” Literally, this indicates that his wife was a cheery, joyful woman, but in the duke’s sarcastic manner, this is also an understatement of perhaps a lack of faithfulness on her part—as to the severity, it is difficult to tell. He again understates her wide selection of things to praise by saying that she had “a heart--how shall I say?—too soon made glad.” What he really believes is that she did not value him highly enough. He goes on to discuss all of the trifling things that caused her to smile. The problem is not so much her absence of love for her husband but all of the other things that make it too ordinary. The most sarcastic part of the whole poem is lines 31-35. The duchess’s thanks to men is good, but she somehow thanks them as if the duke’s 900 year old name is of equal importance. In other words, she hardly values her marriage by which she acquired his prestigious name. He understates his obvious annoyance by commenting consecutively that he would never stoop to blame the (not so small) trifling. Instead of stooping with encouragement, he commanded her to change her behavior and she no longer smiles at anything. The end of the poem makes it sound like he just treats the duchess as a prize of his “collection” of artifacts because he ironically simply proceeds to show off a bronze statue of Neptune.