The Duchess Who Treated All Equaly

                3.The duchess treated the duke like any other man which made him really upset because he felt like he was getting less than he deserved from her.  In the poem, it says “Oh sir, she smiled no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together (Browning, 43).” This section of the poem shows his feelings for the duchess and how in his opinion, she just blew him off. The duke is talking about how the duchess smiles exactly the same to everyone and it makes him angry. He doesn’t want anyone to feel special around her because she is his wife and she should only treat him with respect and kindness. More lines in the poem say, “She had a heart—how shall I say? – too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er (Browning, 21).” In these lines, the duke is explaining that the duchess was very easily impressed so she would get excited about anything that any man would do. He, again, didn’t want the duchess to be friendly with anyone else and this trait about her made the duke feel like he was nothing to her. He felt undervalued because she smiled the same to everyone and was impressed with anything.

-LAUREN HAMRICK