porphyria's lover Flashcards
robert browning
context of Ps lover
- victorian poet
- focuses on twisted, morbid, physcoligical states as a poet
- orinigally published porphyria = shows relationship is illicit
ideas in Ps lover about the speaker
- speaker is controlling and psychotic
- it is about euthanasia
what suggests the poem could be about euthanasia
- “one wish” is she wanted to die and that is why god hasn’t said a word
- “too weak” , “pale” , “no pain” , “so glad it had its upmost will “ - got what it wanted
LANGUAGE - what does the pathetic fallacy in Ps lover show about the speaker
- speaker is irrational
-> he thinks the weather is against him, attacking
-» speaker is PAROANOID as weather can’t be “spiteful”
LANGUAGE - how is pathetic fallacy shown in Ps lover
- personification of weather
- sets mood before P gets here
-> “wind was soon awake It tore the elm-tops down for spite”
LANGUAGE - how does the poetic inversion show the speaker is irrational
- “when glided in porphyria”
-> poetic inversion to focus on glided
-» she would not have actually glided
LANGUAGE - what does the verb “glided” show
- poetic inversion
- shows angelic qualitites which contrast the negativity
-> this imbalance could relfect the speakers mental imbalance - shows a dramatic shift in language from negative to positive
STRUCTURE - “i listened with heart fit to break”
- saying about P
1. he looses control of tetrameter and his emotions when his heart is about to break
2. (wider meaning) - trying to control everything but can’t
-> the name porphyria can never fit into iambic tetrameter and so speaker cannot even name his lover without losing control he is trying to have
LANGUAGE - “and spread o’er all her yellow hair”
- symbolic of dominance on her part
- her hair marks her status and femininity, expected to wear hair up
- foreshadows as he kills her with it
LANGUAGE - how are pronouns depicted in Ps lover
- usually “her” but by the end he calls her “it”
-> sinister and objectifies her
-» also minimises her and objectifies her - “so glad it had its upmost will”
- change of “she” to “it” , distances him from his lover
-> presents her as a possession
LANGUAGE - repetition of “little” to describe P
- diminishes her importance
- and infantilises her
- “rosy little head” “3 times her little throat around”
LANGUAGE - “i looked up”
- symbolically would mean superior and respect, admiring
— the speaker fells Ps too powerful in relationship so kills her after and is consuming him
-> proved as after he kills her the order is reversed
-» “only this time my shoulder bore”
STRUCTURE - what does enjambment show in Ps lover
- contrasts tight and controlled rhyme shceme with enjabment
- enjambement shows the speaker has a lack of control
-> reflects the uncontrollable outburst sof the psychotic man
-» sprawling speech
STRUCTURE - enjambement shows uncontrolled outbursts of the psychotic man, how does the fact the poem is in one stanza relate to this
- the poem is in one stanza
-> sprawling speech - speaker won’t stop to think
-> the uncontrolled thoughts in a stream of conscious style
-» relfects the speaker is being overwhelemed and is out of control
-> constant unhinged actions
-»> leavs us a readers as overwhelemend with the immensity of the peom
STRUCTURE / LANGUAGE - what does repetition of “and “ show
- anaphora
- constant, unhinged actions happening without thought
- also shows his as deranged as he chronologically recounts how he murdered her in detail
STRUCTURE - “and, last, she sat down by my side”
- “LAST”
- caesura puts emphasis on “last”
-> the speaker is annoyed he is last (after she takes of her gloves etc)
-» speaker is frustrated not to be first
-»> 1. he feel she’s becoming passive and she has too much control
what impact do Ps actions have on the speaker
- she has a profound effect on the speaker
-> too deeply in love with he but it is an illicit relationship so he kills her to preserve the moment
-» showed by his frsutration to being “last”
STRUCTURE - what does the rhyme scheme show
- mostly masculine rhyme
-> reflects how his male dominance overpowers
lover
-> male supremacy
LANGUAGE - “only, this time my shoulder bore”
- he thinks this is how it should be (women context)
- symbolically she is now below him and is dependent on him
- he is active and she is passive
LANGUAGE - “only, this time my shoulder bore” - context
- the woman in the poem is atypical for victorian time
-> active, illicit relationship - she is being to active so he puts her in her place and kills her
what does iambic tetrameter show
- abnormal metre relfetcs psychotic speaker
- tetrameter shortens and quickens pace of reading
-> breathless, overwhelming, manic attitude of speaker
LANGUAGE - “And yet God has not said a word”
- uses god to make him feel better as god has said nothing after he killed someone
-> so it is like god is supporting him
-» proves speaker is unhinged
context - how people expressed themselves
- sexuality was repressed or hidden away
-> men and women were expected to be formal and reserved
-» if went against these social conventions they were frowned upon and soically outcast
-»> so it is scandalous for a woman of higher class to act this way -“smooth white shoulder bare” , hair quote
-»» so he murders her to reassert his masculinity
how does the speaker act in the first bit of the poem
- he is passive
- she does all the actions
- once he kills her he takes control and she is now passive
quotes to learn in Ps lover
- “wind was soon awake It tore the elm-tops down for spite”
- “when glided in porphyria”
- “only this time my shoulder bore”
- repetition - “and” , “little”
- “i listened with heart fit to break”
- “and spread o’er all her yellow hair”
- “it” “she”
- “i looked up”
- “and, last, she sat down by my side”
- “And yet God has not said a word”
- “and all night long we have not stirred”
- “And strangled her”
LANGUAGE - “and all night long we have not stirred”
- penultimate line
- it shows he is deranged as she is dead so won’t be moving
- also sinister as he makes it out that she is still alive
