Characterisation & Themes

Test yourself on Characterisation & Themes

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Characterisation of the Duke: Dominant

One of the main ways we see the Duke's obsessive pursuit of control is how he treats his wife. He repeatedly asserts his power over her through the following techniques:

Possessive pronoun

The use of the possessive pronoun “my” throughout links to the Duke’s view that his wife belonged to him.

Symbolism

“Since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I”.
Even in death, the Duke still controls his wife.
The way he treats the portrait is symbolic of the way he treated her when she was alive.

Hinting

“This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.”
This is one of the most famous lines in the poem – it implies that he had her killed.
The use of caesura (break in the line) and short phrases highlights the swiftness, coldness and ruthlessness with which he disposed of her life.

Characterisation of the Duke: Proud and Arrogant

Browning portrays the Duke as arrogant, self-entitled and obsessed with gaining power through the following techniques:

Name-dropping

"Fra Pandolf”.
The Duke is name-dropping here.
He is reminding the emissary he is a wealthy man who can afford an expensive painter.

Rhetorical question

“Will't please you sit and look at her?".
The Duke is posing this as a question, but it is really a command.
This emphasises his power and his pride.

Aside

The use of the aside (a comment to the audience not heard by the characters), “If they durst”, establishes that people fear the Duke.
The fact that he mentions it to the emissary (messenger) shows that he wants people to know of his reputation.

Boastful language

The poem finishes with the Duke referencing money and using boastful language.
- “The Count, your master’s known munificence / Is ample warrant”.
- “Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, / Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me”.
Because the poem ends this way, this is our lasting impression of the Duke.

There is some irony in the poem. Although the Duke is trying to impress the emissary (messenger) and give the impression that he has ultimate power, the way he speaks about his wife shows him to be jealous and insecure. Browning uses these techniques to explore these ideas:

Listing

The Duke lists all the things that made the Duchess smile as if to emphasise how easily pleased she was and put her down:
- “Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast, / The dropping of the daylight in the West, / The bough of cherries some officious fool / Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule / She rode with round the terrace”.

Broken syntax

The Duke’s language indicates his jealousy.
- E.g. “She thanked men, – good! But thanked / somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift.”
The Duke is horrified that she did not appreciate his name and the status that came with that.
His fragmented (broken) syntax here and exclamation convey his anger and frustration at her lack of gratitude.

Irony

Reputation and honour were of huge importance to the Duke.
This fact is very ironic as the poem seems to mock him and his pompousness.
The poem points to the fact that wealth and status do not equate to good morals.