Deconstruction Analysis : Binary Opposition of Power and Inferiority in the Robert Browning’s Poetry My Last Duchess

People as a leader in every structure of life is demanded to has a power. “Traditional definition of power defined it as a potentiality to exert influence and to stay uninfluenced from others (Lewin and Cartwright, 1951; see also Copeland, 1994; Dahl, 1959; Huston, 1983; Pruitt, 1976; Weber, 1947).” (quoted in Voyer and Mcintosh, 2013) In simply way of the society, Power can be defined as an ability to control and influence another people. Usually, people with power often to give command to other. Like what the speaker or Duke character give command to the Duchess character in the poetry My Last Duchess written by Robert Browning. But, how if this power that showing hiddenly an inferiority.

“The inferiority complex will withdraw them from a dominant society to another society where they can dominate and take over. This feeling also drives them to overcome their difficulties with unnecessary things such as fighting, revenge, impertinent, or being arrogant (51).” (Sari, 17)

An inferiority of the Duke’s self that he can not to be what the Duchess do. So, here he gave command to her to stop this and that, then he dominate other and he won’t feel inferior. So, this shown a binary opposition that is discussed in the Deconstruction. Poetry by Robert Browning undertittle My Last Duchess of course can be analyzed by many theories, then in this writing, the poetry will be analyzed by Derrida’s Deconstructive Analysis with pressing on the binary opposition of the Deconstruction’s concept. My Last Duchess was a poetry that come in Victorian era. As a great Victorian poet, Robert Browning made My Last Duchess poetry with the great touch and great word. The poetry came with the character of Duke and the Duchess, it told about Duke who give a memories to his wife who already died in a picture hanging on the wall. But instead of praised his wife, he humiliated his wife instead. He covered her picture with the curtain and showed an inferiority through how he wanted to dominate the Duchess. So, this writing will discuss about Deconstruction analysis focused on the binary opposition of power and inferiority in the My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.

            According to Derrida in the Mcquillan’s book,

“Deconstruction relate to dissemination opposition binary. Such as: nature/culture, rational/irrational, human/animals, masculine/feminime, reality/fiction, presence/absence, and so on that operate almost every Western culture and built hierarchy meaning with one of them is superior.” (Sasmaya, 2018)

Derrida gave a point of view that Deconstruction relate with the binary opposition. In the My Last Duchess, a binary opposition  can be seen in the point of view that Duke as a husband has a power to control the Duchess, but he also showed an inferiority in himself that can be interpreted from different point of view through Deconstructive analysis.     

            Duke’s power to the  Duchess, can be seen in  these lines,

“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. There she stands
As if alive. Will 't please you rise? We'll meet” (43-47)

The phrase of “I gave commands.”(45) in the line 45, shows a power that he can ask and give commands to the Duchess. Then in the next line, “Then All smiles stopped together,”(46) shows again a power that his command can bring a change and he was influental. But, from this phrase, it can be  known that exactly he was jealous and envy of other people who can see the Duchess’ smile, so he asked to stop the smile. Also it can be see from the perspective that commands that has been given by the Duke are not only for the Duchess, but also for the Duke’s right-hand man to kill the Duchess. So the meaning of “all smiles stopped together” are for other people who love and like the Duchess and for the Duchess’ smile itself. In these lines, Duke showed his power by commanding the Duchess to stop smiling, even command someone to kill the Duchess.  His attitude to control and dominate other people, which is this means Duchess. So, this phrase on the line 45 can be seen as an paradox, showing an inferiority, instead of power. In other side of binary opposition, these lines can be seen and intepreted as Duke’s inferiority that he hides from the Duchess by humiliate and give command her to stop smile to other people. The Duke felt inferior, because he cannot did the same with her, and felt jealous with others people. He felt unconfident. So, this unconfidence come along with a jealousy that keep an inferiority in Duke’s self.

            Duke as a husband kept the picture of his wife, the Duchess on the wall. But he covered the Duchess’ picture with curtain, and only himself who can opened that curtain that covered the Duchess’ picture. This shown actually, it can be interpreted as a inferiority in Duke’s self as he wanted to dominate the Duchess. Duke only wanted that his wife‘s cheeks that fulled of joy can be seen by him. The Duke brings a prespective that women as an object. So, he got himself to an inferiority due to inferior people ussually was humiliating and decreasing other people to down-level. These can bee seen in the lines,

“The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 't was not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps.” (8-15)

In the lines 20-27 of this poetry, also can be seen as an inferiority in the Duke’s self through his way to portray the Duchess by the word that has been used by Robert Browning below,

“Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, 't was all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool.” (20-27)

The phrase in the line 22-23, “A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad,/Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er,”(22-23) showed a power of Duke by humiliating Duchess that she was impressed with everything easily. But in a binary opposition, it show an inferiority due to Duke looked jealous and envy because her impress feeling of Duchess can be owned by everything, and not only for the Duke. Duke’s jealousy can be seen as his unconfidence, then showed an inferiority in Duke’s self. Next, in the word “officious” which means as a behaviour that like to get involving in others’ Business. Duke as her husband was jealous and an inferiority hit him due to the Duchess’ attention came for other people. In that case, Browning used the word those words which looked as a power and humiliating Duchess, but actually he just covered his inferiority behind the dominance of the Duke and his humiliating words.

            As the conclusion, the poetry of My Last Duchess from Robert Browning comes with a story about a Duke who kept the picture of his wife, the Duchess on the wall, and covered it by a curtain and nobody can open that curtain, but him. So, can be said that the Duke wanted to dominate the Duchess. The Duke through the poetry’s words always looked Duchess as the inferior one and Duke had the power. But, by the deconstructions, it can be seen that actually the inferior one is Duke himself. It can be seen from the paradox words that have been used, and give meaning that he wanted to dominate the Duchess as how inferiority did. Through the Deconstructions, it can retell that the Duke was the one who got inferior, but he covered it by the power to humiliate the Duchess, brought the Duchess got more inferior as himself and to dominate the Duchess.