Had he deepened the colours of iniquity and indecency instead of introducing so much detailed description of the laboratory, detail which weakens a little our impression of the woman, he had done better, but all the same there is no poet in England, living or dead, who could have done it so well.

One of the best things in the poem is the impression made on us that it is not jealousy, but the hatred of envy which is the motive of the woman.
Jealousy supposes love or the image of love, but among those who surrounded Francis, love did not exist at all, only lust, luxury and greed of power; and in the absence of love and in the scorn of it, hate and envy reign unchallenged.

This is what Browning has realised in this poem, and, in this differentiation, he has given us not only historical but moral truth.
Apart from these lighter and momentary poems about women there are those written out of his own ideal of womanhood, built up not only from all he knew and loved in his wife, but also out of the dreams of his heart.

They are the imaginings of the high honour and affection which a man feels for noble, natural and honest womanhood.

They are touched here and there by complex thinking, but for the most part are of a beloved simplicity and tenderness, and they will always be beautiful.