porphyria's lover Flashcards
When in glided porphyria…she shut out the cold and the storm
Makes her seem magical. She seems powerful and in control of the situation. However this switches. Her actions contrast with the miserable weather.
She put my arm about her waist
Her passivity is strange- he lets her control what he does
And made her smooth white shoulder bare
Uncommon behaviour for a woman during the victorian times. Her behaviour would have been seen as sinful
Porphyria worshipped me
He wants to be loved by her and have power over her
That moment she was mine, mine
He wants to preserve the moment. Repetition of ‘mine’ is disturbing - it empathises how he wants to possess her
In one long yellow string I wound three times her throat around, and strangled her.
It’s shocking as it’s unexpected- there’s no change in rhythm. Caesura emphasises the sudden and final nature of his action.
I am quite sure that she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily opened her lids.
Simile suggests that he’s afraid when he opens her eyes. It’s clearly not true that she felt no pain.
Her cheeks once more blushed bright beneath my burning kiss
He believes that her red face ( as a result of being strangled) is her blushing from his kiss- this shows he’s deranged. ‘burning kiss’ - juxtaposition shows the narrator’s love for Porphyria is passionate but also destructive.
Only this time my shoulder bore her head…. so glad it has its utmost will that all it scorned.. and I its love…..
Role reversal as he is now active and she’s passive.
Repetition of him describing her as ‘it’- suggests she’s now just an object to him
And thus we sit together now.. And yet God has not said a word!
This is disturbing - he realises she’s been dead for the whole poem. Ambiguity - he could be surprised that he hasn’t been punished, or perhaps he doesn’t believe he’s committed a sin.
