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Historically, women were expected to be little more than servants to their husbands. Women who strayed from this social norm often faced dire consequences. In “My Last Duchess,” a poem by Robert Browning, Ferrara speaks of his first wife and the devotion and obedience he expected from her. Despite some evidence to the contrary it becomes obvious, through certain hints from Ferrara her unwillingness to bend to his will resulted in her death. The Duke is not shy in telling the emissary details about his first wife but at times, goes a little too in depth about their relationship. The Duke was upset that she was, “too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed…” suggesting that she was disloyal. Ferrara continues to mention those things that angered him about his wife: her discontent at being married to someone with such a valued bloodline, her pleasure at others’ gifts, and even her happiness. He concludes this by saying, “I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together,” which makes it obvious to the reader that the Duke has played some part in her demise, whether he killed her or had her killed. Moreover, the Duke has moved on and is courting another mistress hoping to find one that is more obedient. Also, instead of the sorrow and hurt one would expect from seeing a painting of the wife he lost, he focuses on her faults, not hesitating to list them to a perfect stranger. The Duke acts as though he is not sad about the loss of his wife and more or less confesses to having her murdered. The justification he has for this is that she does not act as a wife should--submissive and docile. Like many men of the era, he thinks of women as a lesser gender that should play their role in society by obeying men.