"My Last Duchess"

The speaker in "My Last Duchess" does not sound like a very nice man. It seems to me that he is much like many other men who thought they were important back in those days. There seems to be many stories of kings or dukes trying to take control of the people around them, like their wives, and then doing horrible things to them if they are not happy. Although the duke is not a very nice man, he may be a very smart man. He uses his words very well to tell his story while letting the listener think that he isn't bragging about anything. He pretends to be a very happy, good natured man but some of his true character is showing through.
The duke is telling this story to a man who is there trying to arrange a marriage for the duke. The duke may be trying to impress him with his words and the story. It also may be a sort of warning for his future wife. The duke believed that his wife was acting inapropriately. He did not want her to give any person the attention that he felt he deserved for "My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name" (33). He let the man know that he made the behavior stop using force "then all the smiles stopped together" (46). He was probably very proud of what he had done.