Skip to main content

Is the theme of appearance vs reality seen throughout the poem, "My Last Duchess"?

Yes, the theme of appearance vs. reality is important to this poem. The text appears to capture a well-mannered negotiation between the duke and the servant of a count, sent, presumably, to broker the marriage of the count's daughter to the duke.  Toward the end of the poem, the duke says that


"his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed / At starting, is my object."


This shows that his purpose, at least, is to settle marriage...

Yes, the theme of appearance vs. reality is important to this poem. The text appears to capture a well-mannered negotiation between the duke and the servant of a count, sent, presumably, to broker the marriage of the count's daughter to the duke.  Toward the end of the poem, the duke says that



"his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed / At starting, is my object."



This shows that his purpose, at least, is to settle marriage arrangements.


However, the text's purpose really has a lot more to do with the sad story of the duke's last duchess.  The duke talks about her as he shows her portrait, saying,



"She had / A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er / She looked on, and her looks went everywhere."  



In other words, he wanted her undivided attention, to be the only one who could elicit her smiles and blushes, and, instead,



"she ranked / [His] gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift."



She was no more flattered  or pleased by his important and expensive gifts than she was by a branch of cherries or a sunset. She smiled for him, certainly, but she smiled for everyone, and he found this to be unacceptable.  So, he says, "I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together."  It sounds as though he had her killed!  That, or he treated her so harshly, demanding that she stop being so happy about everything but him, that she perished. In a similar way, then, the duke appears to be a polite but is actually a childish tyrant.  


Thus, on both the textual level, and on the level of the duke's character, the poem very much focuses on the discrepancy between appearances and reality.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can you analyze the poem "Absolution" by Siegfried Sassoon?

Sure! Siegfried Sassoon fought in World War I and was wounded in battle; he spent much of his life speaking out against war, and these pacifist feelings are easy to see in his poems. This one, "Absolution," was published in 1917, the same year that Sassoon was hospitalized for what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder. "Absolution" is a short poem that contains three stanzas of four lines each. The word "absolution" means "forgiveness," and... Sure! Siegfried Sassoon fought in World War I and was wounded in battle; he spent much of his life speaking out against war, and these pacifist feelings are easy to see in his poems. This one, "Absolution," was published in 1917, the same year that Sassoon was hospitalized for what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder. "Absolution" is a short poem that contains three stanzas of four lines each. The word "absolution" means "forgiveness," and the v...
Post a Comment
Read more

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...
Post a Comment
Read more

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...
Post a Comment
Read more