Porphyria's Lover - Robert Browning Flashcards
Porphyria’s Lover
This poem brings out the Victorian expectation in the balance of power in male-female relationships. Men were expected to have power and control and to be dominant.
It also presents how the Victorian society judged women negatively for expressing their sexual desire as Porphyria is ultimately punished for making herself sexually available.
General Context
- Browning was an atheist who questioned God’s place in the world.
- He married the poet, Elizabeth Barrette, who was older and more famous than him.
‘laid her soiled gloves’
‘let damp hair fall’
‘made her shoulder bare’
L - active verbs
Porphyria is actively making herself sexually available to the speaker which is implied by letting her hair fall loose.
C - this is unusual in Victorian society as women were not expected to show their sexual desire.
‘too weak to set its struggling passion free from pride and vainer ties dissever’
L - symbolism
Pride and vainer ties represent the class difference between them. The speaker is of a lower class.
C - this reflects how in Victorian England it was unusual to have relationship outside of ones class.
‘at last Porphyria worshipped me’
L - time marker
The speaker’s love for her has not been requited until now. She has held the power over him.
L - verb
It implies she would do anything for him to please and serve him. The balance of power has now shifted from her to him.
‘that moment she was mine, mine’
L - possessive pronoun
L - repetition
As the speaker is possessive of her at this moment, he wants to preserve this forever. He does not want her to belong to anyone else in the future which might be the reason why he killed her.
‘in one long yellow string I wound her little throat around’
L - metaphor
Her hair symbolises her desire which kills her at the end showing how women were expected to be punished for showing their sexual desire in Victorian England.
‘she felt no pain’
L - repetition
The speaker reassures himself and the reader that his act was not one of violence but one of mercy as he keeps her purity.
‘it’
The speaker refers to Porphyria using an impersonal pronoun showing how he dehumanises her and she is now an object. He can possess her in death.
‘God has not said a word’
The speaker believes he maintained her virginal purity so he has escaped punishment.
He believes that either God does not exist or God will not punish him as God judges Porphyria for expressing her desire.
Unbalance Rhyme Scheme
The ABAAA rhyme scheme suggests that the speaker’s mind is unbalanced but the regular rhyme scheme creates a chilling tone as the speaker is still in control.
Written as a monologue
Porphyria having no voice in the poem may reflect how Victorian women did not have control over their lives.
It may also be because the poet wants to create an uncomfortable and chilling tone to the poem as the Victorians loved murders and melodramas.
