The complete question is:
Read this excerpt from "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning:
—and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
—E'en then would be some stooping: and I choose
Never to stoop. 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.
What conclusion can you draw about the speaker's character?
He seems passive.
He is extremely arrogant.
He has a stooping gait.
He is very somber.
Answer:
B). He is extremely arrogant.
Explanation:
In the context of one of the most popular poems of Robert Browning titled 'My Last Duchess,' the inference which can be made regarding the speaker's character i.e. The Duke of Ferrara would be that 'he is excessively haughty and arrogant.' <u>The details like 'gave commands,' 'smiles stopped,' etc. substantiates the claim and display that he is a highly dominating, judgmental, and selfish human</u> who controls his wife/duchess. In fact, it was he who killed her as he thought she had been unfaithful towards him. Thus, <u>option B</u> is the correct answer.
