Mirror Prison Shadow: Lacanian Interpretation of "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70088/j2acmq75Keywords:
"My Last Duchess", Jacques Lacan, Mirror Stage Theory, dramatic monologue, self-identityAbstract
Robert Browning's dramatic monologue poem "My Last Duchess" portrays a noble duke with a strong desire for control and a distorted personality. This article conducts an interpretation around the three-dimensional images of living mirror image, static mirror image, and symbolic mirror image in the poem. The duke regards women as the carrier of the mirror image for constructing his self-identity. The living Duchess, as a living mirror image, breaks free from discipline and causes the collapse of his narcissistic system; the portrait of his last wife becomes a static mirror image that is completely controlled, continuing the duke's possessiveness; the sea god's sculpture training the seahorse becomes a symbolic mirror image, suggesting that the female tragedy will continue to cycle. This article analyzes the psychological essence of the duke establishing a false self through others, interprets the profound criticism of human alienation and power obsession in the poem, and confirms the application value of Lacanian mirror theory in the psychological interpretation of literary characters.References
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Copyright (c) 2026 Xiaoru Zhang (Author)
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