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Robert Browning’s poem “My last Duchess” is spoken from the perspective of the Duke and conveys the Dukes personality through the literary form of a dramatic monologue. It involves a fictional account of the Duke addressing an envoy from the Coun ....

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.... Duke uses the curtain as a method of controlling his wife, even after her death. Other men admiring her beauty was unacceptable, so by hiding the painting behind a curtain, he controls who is allowed to gaze upon her. “Sir, ‘twas not / her husband’s presence only, called that spot / of joy into the Duchess’ cheek” (13-15). The Duke mentions the blush on the cheek that the duchess has in the painting and assumes that Frà Pandolf, the painter, was attracted to the Duchess and possibly paid her a compliment. “Her mantle laps Over my lady’s wrist too much,’ or ‘Paint Must never hope to reproduce t ....