Of his last duchess, the duke was irritated that she had a heart which was "too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." He wanted his wife to appreciate him and the gifts he bestowed upon her more than she appreciated anyone else and their less significant or less valuable gifts, but she seemed to blush and thank everyone in just the same way. The duke complains that the duchess seemed to rank the gift of a bough of cherries from the orchard or a ride around the terrace on a pretty white mule alongside the gift of his "favour" of her or even his "nine-hundred-years-old name."

In describing her, the duke says, in part,

Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile?