Power and the assertion of control is a prominent theme in Robert Browning's poem My Last Duchess, and by using certain techniques with his writing, he has been able to create a piece that is able to assert its power over the reader itself. Employing tactics such as having a specific tone for the diction used enables the poem to emanate the Duke’s tone of wanting to be the authority in situations. In the opening lines of the poem, the Duke tells the envoy “will’t please [he] sit and look at [the Duchess]?” [5] however does not miss a beat to continue his monologue, never once looking to his audience to talk, never once allowing the control he has over the speech to waver. The painting of which the Duke is talking about is even something the
