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?
