My Last Colony A postcolonial approach to Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

My Last Colony

A postcolonial approach to Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

Colonialism has irrevocably altered the globe. It is therefore vital to analyze the colonialist expansion of power in as many disciplines as possible. Postcolonial theory is a critical approach that focuses on the representation of other cultures, the fabrication of a distorted picture of the East by the West and the “legitimized” oppression of colonized people by the colonizers (Hamadi 39f). Postcolonialism is largely inspired by Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978), in which the author describes how western explorers, poets and novelists projected an image of an uncivilized, archaic “other” part of the world that contrasts with the civilized and sophisticated West (Said 38f). I found such a depiction of the irrational and weak ‘other’ in Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” (1842). In this poem, a duke shows to a visitor a portrait of his last wife that was killed by his “commands” (45). I will provide an allegorical reading of “My Last Duchess” with the duke representing a British colonial master during the 19th century and the portrait of the duchess embodying a colony.

        The smile of the mysterious, seductive, but somehow menacing duchess deligths men in the same way as the colonies fascinated the colonial rulers. “The depth and passion of [the duchess’s] earnest glance” (8) in the portrait attracts the attention of the observers who wonder “how such a glance came there” (12). The duchess’s joyful smiles enchanted the duke. However, he considered them to be dangerous as the duchess gave the same promising and flirtatious smiles to every man (44f). The European colonial masters felt the same mix of anxiety and fascination with the colonies as the duke experienced for the “spot of joy” (15) on the duchess’s cheek. The colonies were associated with mystery, adventure, emotions and sex and thus with femininity (Purchase 103). Peter Barry summarizes Said when he claims that the East was a “fascinating realm of the exotic, the mystical and the seductive” and when he outlines how this part of the world became the “repository […] of those aspects of themselves which Westerners do not choose to acknowledge” such as “sensuality and decadence”. Additionally, the Easterners often act by instinct (for example lust) “rather than [by] conscious choices or decisions” (186). Similarly, the duke describes his dead wife as mysterious, seductive and driven by passion. This allows to formulate an allegory of colonialism. The duke as a colonial master, enamored of the enigmatic duchess standing for a colony, is eager to gain the absolute control of this colony.

        The painting of the duchess concealed behind the curtain and the two duchesses represent colonies. These colonies are controlled by the colonizers and are often not accessible to the ordinary western population. The duke objectifies his last duchess by getting her killed and attaching her portrait to a wall. Additionally, he already refers to the next woman he is about to marry as his “object” (53). As the West had a material relationship with the East (Williams, and Chrisman 7), the two duchesses, turned into objects, can be interpreted as colonies, inhabitants of the East and exotic places in general. The next duchess is not entitled to have a say in the wedding agreement negotiated between the two men. Not having a voice emphasizes her status as an object. The portrait of the dead duchess is covered by a curtain that only the duke can draw (10). This gives the duke the power to control the duchess’s portrait as well as who is allowed to contemplate it. During the 19th century, the inaccessibility of the colonies for the ordinary western citizens allowed the British colonial masters to promulgate a perverted and ideological image of what was happening in the distant countries (Pallua 38-41). As both the British colonizers and the duke draw a veil for the people living in the West, my allegory of the duke and the colonizers is reinforced. Moreover, the curtain also protects the painting. Colonial intervention was justified by a duty to protect the colonies (Pallua 28). Some motives of the colonizers’ to dominate far-off countries were wealth, the expansion of power and the demonstration of Western superiority (Hamadi 40). Similarly, the duke aimed to maintain his high social status (33) and to demonstrate his authority over his last duchess.

        The duke’s attitude of superiority towards the duchess’s painting corresponds with the Eurocentric view the colonial rulers had towards the colonized ‘primitive’ countries. The duke presents himself to his visitor as a wealthy and powerful man with “a nine-hundred-years-old name” (33). According to him, the last duchess did not adequately appreciate this “gift” (34). This reveals the duchess’s and the duke’s diverging value systems. The duke thinks that he surpasses the “easily impressed” (23) duchess. Moreover, the duchess seemed to take pleasure in simple activities such as riding a mule (26). Riding a horse would have implicated a higher social rank (Watson 72). The duke depicts the duchess, qualified as a colony, as primitive and uncivilized in stark contrast to the developed West. This is an act of “othering” (“Orientalism”: A Dictionary of Human Geography). Furthermore, the duchess is pushed into an inferior status, becoming a subaltern person, a process postcolonial theory investigates (Abrams, and Harpham 306). Sean Purchase refers to Said stating that “the West has fundamentally misrepresented the East in order to define itself as the superior civilization” (103). The similarity between the duke and the colonial masters can be extended when looking at the duke’s desire to control his wives. In his monologue, the duke indirectly lays out that his next duchess should not behave in the same way as the last. He will exert full control over his “object” (53) and any misbehaving of her will again end in death. The duke does not show any regret about the murder of his last wife or any apprehension of killing the next one. To him, it is his duty to eliminate moral decay. The obsession to implement a “mission of civilization” legitimized power and violence against culturally ”inferior” and savage people (Said 40-44). With his carefully worded monologue, the duke tries to set himself apart from the duchess and to outshine her.

...