Pride and Ego

Pride and Ego “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall/Looking as if she were alive. I call/That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands/Worked busily a day, and there she stands.” In the first four lines of Robert Browning’s beautifully written poetic monologue, The Last Duchess, the reader is introduced to the Duke’s haughty and nonchalant attitude toward his deceased first wife. This outlook is carried through …

…is my object.” Not only does he want his next wife’s rather large dowry, he will undoubtedly want her to be the perfect wife. Based on the story of his first wife, she will either be obedient and bend to his enormous ego, or suffer the fate of the last duchess. Works Cited Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999. 821-822.