The duke is a very proud, vain and egotistical lord who views his ex-wife as an object or "trophy" rather than as a person. Super-macho and so blasé as to not even be aware of it, he takes pride in showing his house guest various family heirlooms, among them being her portrait done by a reputed artist named Fra Pandolf. The duke evidently wants to show off his wealth, his acquisitions, and his elitism, flounting the fact of having rubbed elbows with such famous people. In the same breath he "dumbs down" his first wife and decrees her as unworthy - as if her banishment reinforces his own superiority:
There is no need to think that the Duke is conscious of his implications: given his excessive pride, his refusal ever to stoop, he could hardly tolerate allowing another to believe his Duchess unfaithful to him, especially through his own revelation, however subtle.
Through his comments, the guest (the reader) also takes a guided tour through the duke's twisted soul and warped value system. For instance, he avows having taken offense at the first duchess's simple joy of living and a blush appearing when she posed for the portrait ("a spot of joy on her cheek"), suspected infidelity and "treason" when no real justification or proof of it was there. Dispensing with her, he moves on to take another conquest, a new wife who will supply the obsessive fawning demanded by his super ego:
As he believes is only his right, the Duke attempts to acquire another Duchess who will respond solely to him, and to that end he tells his last Duchess's story. In so doing he reveals a colossal ego. But through his very skill in speech he betrays that ego, for his subtle and unconscious slander of his last victim exposes at bottom an instinctive self-justifier, or at least a man predictably insecure behind a tyrant's swagger.
The final "crunch" comes when he turns abruptly from this subject to admire a statue another artist has recently cast for him, am image of Neptune taming a sea-horse. In truth, the statue embodies his own concept of domination, especially over women. He finishes as he starts, contemplating his own power, his refined artistic taste, his superiority.
In short, a V.I.P. to be venerated and admired!
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