"My Last Duchess"

The speaker in “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning is a jealous and selfish man. The way he comes across in the poem, he wants everything to himself, he is selfish. An example of the speakers selfishness is the name of the poem itself “My Last Duchess”, no one will ever have her as his wife because she is now dead. Another example that he is selfish and wants everything to himself is when he kept her picture behind the curtain so only but himself could see it (703). His jealousy came through when he realized he was not the only one that she (the Duchess) smiled at and they smiled back and once he realized this he made commands and the smiling stopped (703). The speaker wanted to make sure that his social status was good. He knew that even though his wife was dead that she gave him a good social status because she was a lady that could make others blush and she was a polite woman who thanked the men, which reflected his good taste in women (703). The word choice and tone of the speaker reflects him as a person who feels he is better than everyone else and that anything he gets isn't good enough for him. For example, he felt his last Duchess was "too easily impressed; she liked whate'er" (703)and this shows that she wasn't good enough for him that she could have been better or more strict like him.