Is the Duke in "My Last Duchess" a "Bluebeard"?

This is an interesting question. In the original French folk tale, Bluebeard's latest wife disobeys her husband's orders and looks into a little room forbidden to her, where she discovers the bodies of her husband's previous wives.

It is easy to think of Bluebeard in connection with the Duke in "My Last Duchess." He seems about as selfish and cruel as the Bluebeard in the folk tale; and he speaks of his dead wife as...

This is an interesting question. In the original French folk tale, Bluebeard's latest wife disobeys her husband's orders and looks into a little room forbidden to her, where she discovers the bodies of her husband's previous wives.

It is easy to think of Bluebeard in connection with the Duke in "My Last Duchess." He seems about as selfish and cruel as the Bluebeard in the folk tale; and he speaks of his dead wife as "my last duchess," which could be interpreted as "my most recent duchess." But the Bluebeard in the folk tale was marrying poor girls and didn't seem interested in collecting dowries. The Duke in "My Last Duchess" seems more interested in marrying for money. Therefore, he would not have such an easy time collecting wives as Bluebeard, who was also a nobleman. The Duke is a selfish man but not a madman like Bluebeard. That French nobleman was totally insane. He needed lots of wives, because he was a serial killer. And because of his position and power, he could demand any girl he wanted to marry and would get her.

It seems possible that the arrogant Duke in "My Last Duchess" might have had another wife before his last duchess, but it does not seem possible that he had a whole collection of wives before seeking to marry the Count's daughter. He tells his visitor:

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.

He must have had the poor, innocent girl killed, but he did not do the killing himself. He is not like Bluebeard, who must have personally killed all his wives and enjoyed doing it.