Destructive/Obsessive 'Love'

Question 1

Poems to Compare:

Answer 1

Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning

The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew

Question 2

Relevant Context:

Answer 2

RB: poem’s name was repeatedly changed, was once ‘Madhouse Cells’
CM: was homosexual but was scared this was a sign of mental ill health (like family) - committed suicide

In both poems, the women are not doing what Victorian women were expected to

Question 3

Structure/Form:

Answer 3

Both start in the past tense (TFB: “three summers”; PL: “to-night”) - reflective tone

Question 4

Language:

Answer 4

Pathetic Fallacy: PL: she “shut the cold out”; TFB: her smile is “like the shut of a winter’s day”