What is the concept of love in “my last duchess”?
The man couldn’t appreciate his wife’s love of the simple pleasures in life. He thought maybe she was cheating on him and that she favored everyone the same as she favored him. He thought that because he married her and raised her status and gave her material things that she should treat him better than everyone else; however, she treated everyone and everything with the same simple joy and this made him angry. It doesn’t explicitly say that he killed her, but readers can infer that he probably had a hand in her death. In the end, what it all came down to was control. He couldn’t have control over his duchess during her life, but now that she’s dead, he can. He keeps her painting behind a curtain, so that people can only see her when HE wants them to see her. He tried to control her while she was alive, but she refused to be suppressed. Now, he’s moving onto another wife, making sure that she won’t be like his last duchess. Hope this helps…good luck with your paper!
