In My Last Duchess the setting is the city of Ferrara during the Renaissance. The imaginary speaker is the Duke of Ferrara who is addressing a messenger of the Count whose daughter he intends to marry. While negotiating the marriage, he shows him a portrait of his previous wife and talks about her. Two different personalities emerge in the poem. The young wife flushes with joy at very simple things - the sunset, the cherries and the white mule; she is nice to everybody including people of lower ranks. The Duke fins it unbearable that she puts the same value on, for example, a "bough of cherries" ason the gift of his nine- hundred-year-old name. He is proud, class-conscious and possessive. He reveals himself as a tyrant who wants toh ave absolute contro lover his wife. As he was unable to, he "gave command; then all smiles stop together". As the men are going downstairs the Duke espresse his confidence that the Count will grant his reasonable request for an ample "dowry", quickly adding "thug his fair daughter's self is my object". His last remark is about a sculpture of Neptune "taming a sea horse" which is a visual metaphor for the Duke's wish to tame those under his control.