A Man’s Madness

An interactive adventure story

I need a beautiful woman who is worthy of my

status.

You are a wealthy Duke who lives in a beautiful, aged castle in the countryside of

England. A bachelor, your family continuously pressures you to marry.

Observe and appreciate her

beauty – she is all yours

Who cares what she looks like?

Your fascination with beautiful women is aided by your wealth and status. You marry a beautiful duchess, who you desire with a

deep passion. She has naturally rosy cheeks, and a sweet flirty smile.

She is deserving of the title of

Duchess for her beauty.

I get it, she’s pretty. What is she

like, though?

The excitement of attaining such a beautiful woman lingers in you as she settles in your home. You find her presence alluring, her smile refreshing, and her flush flattering.

See what happens.

You give her a white mule, and she graciously thanks you for the gift. She rides

the mule around the garden near the woods, and you notice your gardener and a few other men gathering around to watch.

She can’t blush that way with

other men – she’s mine.

I’m quite proud of her beauty. Let

them look.

You hear them praising her beauty, and you see a blush crawl from the nape of her neck up to her cheeks to that familiar rosy blush.

1

She’s being flirtatious with

others. It is as if any male is good enough for her.

She has a fair complexion – it makes sense.

You start to notice things you had not before. Your duchess blushes easily with

other men, regardless if they are the kitchen boy, or the gardener, or another

duke. 2

This occurs many times.

You command her to stop flirting with other men. You remind her that she is yours, and

only yours. You are the only man who should make her blush that way.

What an adulterous woman!

Something must be done.

Maybe I was too harsh on her.

Perhaps I should apologize.

Over time, as you continuously admonish her, she stops smiling at you.

Now that I have her visage on the wall, I have no need for the

woman who disrespects my

manhood.

Maybe she will appreciate me

more, since I am honouring her on

the wall.

Your desire to have her beauty will not be tainted by her betrayal of your trust and

love. You invite the famed painter Frà Pandolf to your castle, and have him paint

her portrait on the wall.

You invite her into your room.

You ask her if she would like to have dinner with you.

You tell her that you want to make amends: her beauty is what captivated you, and that is what you want to keep. She looks at you

with hope in her eyes.

You motion for her to enter.

You arrive at the door to the master bedroom – your bedroom. You step into the room. The room is dark, lit only by a small candle by your bed. You turn, and see your duchess, a hesitant and nervous expression

on her face.

That’s right.

“Close the door behind you,” you tell her. She slowly walks into the room, turns, and

as she closes the door, you wrap your fingers around her throat and squeeze.

Die.

She struggles against you, her fingers clawing at yours. You feel her lungs

attempting to pass air through her closing windpipe, you hear the gasping of her

fading breath.

She treated me as if I was the same as any other man.

I am a duke.

You take in a deep breath as you watch the life seep from her soft blue eyes, the terror

and anguish drifting off her face.

I am the only one who she blushes

at now.

You bury her in the woods at the edge of your estate, and hang curtains above the portrait of your now deceased duchess.

Two birds with one stone.

You mourn her loss for a couple of months, telling others that she was murdered by a

jealous gardener. The man was sent to prison immediately.

I must have this woman.

Dukes and nobility from all over England come to your castle to sympathize and

mourn with you. Many bring their families, perhaps thinking that filling your household

with guests will brighten the mood. One count in particular has daughter catches

your eye.

Again! References

Thank you for playing! This route was inspired by “My Last Duchess” by Robert

Browning.

“My Last Duchess” References1. “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.” (21-24)

2. “She thanked men – good! but thanked / Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked / My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / With anybody’s gift” (32-34)

Why did the Duke do what he did?

“The Duke confronts a crisis of manhood in that the Duchess challenges both the formation of manliness… as well as the

Duke’s use of such manliness to justify his social position. The female here refuses to recognize the class position that, with

clear reference to the Victorian bourgeoisie, is ostensibly validated by sexual and emotional restraint” (79).

In other words, the Duchess’s flirtatiousness with the other men (who the Duke believes are less masculine than he, and thus are not worth the Duchess’s time) causes the Duke to question his own masculinity. This causes a crisis of identity, since he has grown up believing himself to be more of a man than others (as he is able to restrain himself).

Sussman, Herbert. Victorian Masculinities: Manhood and Masculine Poetics in Early Victorian Literature and Art. Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture. Ed. Gillian Beer and Catherine Gallagher. New York:

Cambridge UP, 1995.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she

cheating?

The guy cut a branch of cherries

for her.

You let her do as she pleases around your castle, and she loves the few hours you spend together. One day, you notice her

smile at the gardener.

What an officious fool! And her! Who

does she think I am?

She’s beautiful. It’s nice making a beautiful woman

smile.

The gardener seems quite proud of himself, and you hear him bragging about how he

made your wife blush.

She blushes to everyone. What a

flirt!

She blushes to everyone. She

must not be used to the praise, or blushes easily.

Your wife continues to chat with the people around your estate, and you see her blush when her servants compliment her beauty.

Good, because her beauty is mine.

You tell her that you are drawn to her beauty, not her sisters’, and

that you love her.

One night, you and your wife are getting ready for bed. You ask her how often she

was complimented for her beauty.

She looks at you in surprise, and reminds you that her sisters have similar features.

You enjoy the rest evening in the

lovely company of your loving wife.

She smiles at you and pulls you into a hug. She kisses your cheek sweetly. “I am

thankful you care for me the way you do.”

Again! References

Thank you for playing! This was an alternate ending to “My Last Duchess” by

Robert Browning.

You build a library for her.

You buy her a mule.

You ask her what sorts of hobbies she has. She cocks her head in surprise. “I love

riding,” she responds, “as well as reading books…” She trails off, seeming shy.

Why would she want a journal?

This is getting too dangerous.

Sure, she can have whatever

she desires.

She becomes absorbed in the books you buy her. Over dinners, she passionately

describes the latest book she has read. A few months after you begin to bring her

books, she asks for a journal.

You tell her that she is out of her

place.You encourage her

to write more.

She begins to write feverishly. One night, you ask her what she is writing about.

Shyly, she shows you the beginning of a poem about child labour.

We were destined to be poets, and we didn’t even

know it.

With your guidance and meticulous editing, she becomes a poet. You and your wife

write poetry together.

Again! References

Thank you for playing! This was an alternate ending to “My Last Duchess” by

Robert Browning that was based loosely off of Browning’s own life.

You motion for her to enter.

You arrive at the door to the master bedroom – your bedroom. You step into the room. The room is dark, lit only by a small candle by your bed. You turn, and see your duchess, a hesitant and nervous expression

on her face.

You dash after her, cursing her

observation skills.

As she walks in, you turn and grab the rope that you had hidden beneath your bed. You

hear a soft gasp. You whip your head around, just in time to see the look of complete and utter terror in her face. She bolts back to the door and through it before you can catch her.

You turn at the end of the

hallway, seeing her race down the

stairs.

You sprint after her, through the halls.

Go to the stables to the left.

You reach the start of the fields, where you last saw her. You glance around, searching for your unfaithful wife. You definitely saw

her out here. Does she think she can escape? You see movement in the trees to the right, but the stables, where her mule is, is to the

left.

Go to the woods to the right.

You dive for her heels.

You turn into the stables and find her, about to mount her mule. The one that you gave her. Rage fills you once again. Startled, she

turns and sees you.

You kick the mule.

I will chase her to the ends of the

earth if I need to. She will pay.

You dive for her heels, but you miss. You fall, and as you lie there stunned, you hear the thundering of the mule’s hooves on the dirt

as she rides away.

Thank you for playing! This was an alternate ending to “My Last Duchess” by Robert

Browning, and was inspired by his narrative poem The Ring and the Book.

Again! References

Fine. She will be a prisoner.

You kick the mule, and it rears up, knocking the Duchess off. It gallops out of the stables

and off into the distance. You grab your sobbing wife by the arm, gripping her so

tightly that she yelps in pain.

If she wants to live, then fine. She

can stay there forever.

You drag your screaming Duchess to the wall with her painting. The other side of the wall is

a small empty servant’s quarters. You push her into the room and lock the door.

Thank you for playing! This was an alternate ending to “My Last Duchess” by Robert

Browning, and was inspired by his narrative poem The Ring and the Book and a

suggestion by a classmate.

Again! References

You whirl around.

You run into the woods, your eyes frantically searching for the movement you had

spotted. With every passing moment, you begin to doubt your decision. In the distance behind you, you hear the sound of hooves.

I will chase her to the ends of the

earth if I need to. She will pay.

You see a small white mule, with a small figure, galloping out of your estate.

Thank you for playing! This was an alternate ending to “My Last Duchess” by Robert

Browning, and was inspired by his narrative poem The Ring and the Book.

Again! References