Answer:

Different Forms of Power Presented in My Last Duchess, A Woman to Her Lover and La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Amongst the three love poems examined in this essay, the theme of male

or female power in relationships pervades throughout. The views of the

speakers are expressed and defined through literary and poetic

techniques. This gives the reader an insight into the speaker's

problems and dissatisfaction with a relationship, due to an imbalance

of power. However there are dissimilarities between the poems - for

example where in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" the female displays

supernatural power and dominance over a knight, the Duke in "My Last

Duchess" desires psychological power over his Duchess.

The poem "My Last Duchess" is a dramatic monologue written by Robert

Browning and spoken by the Duke of Ferrara. In the poem he displays

his megalomaniac tendencies towards his late wife and his belief that

his title symbolises his power over her. We also learn that he doesn't

want his wife for love, but to be able to exhibit her and 'show her

off' and enforce psychological power over, which is shown when he says

"if she let / Herself be lessoned". This shows that he wants to mould

her into the wife that he wants.