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 …

…His jealousy was destroyed when “[he! ] 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**