porphyrias lover Flashcards
Themes?
Possession, Passivity, Insanity
Tones?
Dark, Sinister, Sexual, Violent
Context
Porphyria is a disease that can result in insanity.
Browning might be comparing being in love with
insanity and a delusional view of reality.
-Porphyria is portrayed as a sexual and seductive
woman, which would have attracted criticism in
Victorian times. This could, however, be the
untrustworthy speaker’s way of justifying the murder.
-First published in 1836, and draws on Romantic era
imagery of nature and strong emotion.
Content, Meaning and Purpose
-Dramatic monologue recounting the stormy night
when the speaker strangled his lover, Porphyria, to
death.
-At first, he seems to be angry with his lover, remaining
silent and passive to her affection.
-The speaker is clearly insane and believes that
Porphyria wishes to be murdered in order to be with
him forever.
Language
‘let the damp hair fall’: conveys Porphyria’s sexuality,
which would have been viewed as sinful by Victorians.
-‘Murmering how she loved me’: verb ‘murmering’
suggests he doesn’t believe her, or feels manipulated.
-‘That moment she was mine, mine’: he seizes and
preserves this moment of control by killing her.
Repetition of ‘mine’ is sinister.
-‘Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss’: he is
deluded, thinking that the redness in her strangled
face is actually just blushing. Juxtaposition of ‘burning
kiss’ conveys destructive passion.
Form and structure
-Asymmetrical rhyme scheme (ABABB) and
enjambment create and effect of instability and
unpredictability – just like the speaker himself.
-Poem is in two parts that mirror each other:
First half: Porphyria is dominant, speaker is passive
Volta (turning point) line 31: ‘I looked up at her eyes’
Second half: Speaker is dominant, Porphyria is passive.
This perhaps reflects the all-consuming power of love.
-Contrasts of love and violence used throughout.
-Repetition of ‘yellow hair’, first to convey her beauty,
then used to murder her.
