Discuss your interpretation of "My Last Duchess" before you read the annotated copy and after. Are these interpretations widely divergent? Which aspects of the poem intrigued you upon your first reading? Does the narrator's diction and/or tone lead you to a possible interpretation?
My initial interpretation of “My Last Duchess” was the Duke thought his wife was a beautiful woman that should be admired by others, but that she did not adequately appreciate the fact that she was his wife and had taken on a prestigious name, as reflected in the words “as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift.” Though I didn’t pick up on any allusion as to how she died, the Duke’s tone in the last 10 or so lines changes from reflective to almost cheerful: he seems happy that she is gone, and that the painting allowed him to have a wife that was only seen and not heard. Instead of having what we’d now call a “trophy wife,” he almost literally does have a trophy piece of her – something that he can hang on his wall and call others to admire, without having to actually interact with her. Lastly, the title in itself reveals that the Duke is not phased by the Duchess’ passing, and that he will undoubtedly marry again.
My interpretation does not veer far from the annotations. The difference lies in the fact that the notes speak of the Duke as cold-blooded; I felt that while there was an underlying tone of disregard toward her death, pride is in the forefront. The Duke took great pride in his name and status, and the Duchess seemingly did not kow-tow to that, and thus had to be done away with.
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