The Duke of Ferrara has some connection that he wants to
preserve with his duchess to commission a painting of her by Fra Pandolf. It
can be inferred by the language of the poem that he, like many men of the time,
views women as possessions to be coveted and believes that he has found a great
treasure in her beauty and the dowry he was paid. It can also be inferred that
he holds very high expectations of women and their duties. The duchess is
presented by the speaker as a woman who is well-versed in society and quite
comfortable and joyous in her role within it. It can be inferred by the line “…
This grew; I gave commands / Then all smiles stopped together…” that the
duchess, as time went on, lost the spark and apparent respect she once held for
the Duke Ferrara (1104). She no longer even grants him the slight pleasantry of
the type of smile a stranger may offer in passing.
The footnote of the text states that the Duke had two wives, or duchesses, the last being the niece of an Austrian count. I would infer that the poem is about how their relationship degrades over time, possibly when she begins to uncover more about the circumstances of his first wife’s death. He begins to think that she is ungrateful of the attention and status he gives to her with the lines “… as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift…” (1103). This is saying that she doesn’t respect all that he gives her by giving her his name.
What effect does the continual enjambment have on pacing and
the meanings of the images the speaker presents? Does the arrangement of the
lines by rhyming couplets rather than independent clauses have a positive or
negative effect on the meaning of the poem? What is the significance of the
Duke commissioning a painting of his duchess, and which duchess is it?
I think the duchess in the painting was his first wife. They way he talks about the painting makes me feel like it was someone he truly loves, and he just seems infatuated with the new duchess. And i think the painting of the duchess just shows how important she was to him.
ReplyDeleteI think the duchess in the painting was his first wife. They way he talks about the painting makes me feel like it was someone he truly loves, and he just seems infatuated with the new duchess. And i think the painting of the duchess just shows how important she was to him.
ReplyDeleteDuring this time the rich would get paintings done of their wives. What I assume is that he got this painting done because it is like a picture. You take a picture to remember something, and the Duke wanted to remember his latest wife. This poem was about his first wife who died when he was seventeen. They were married for three years when she passed. It says that she passed under suspicious circumstances. What does that mean? Was it because the Duke was so possessive over her?
ReplyDeleteI think the significance behind the Duke commissioning a painting of his wife is that he wants it to be this picture that he can remember her for years to come, it is something he wanted to do for himself. I think that the painting was of his first wife
ReplyDelete