Comparing the two poems Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess

By comparing the two poems Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess,

explore how Browning deals worth the theme of jealousy.

Jealousy is a theme that occurs quite regularly in Browning’s poems.

This was particularly noticed in both of the poems ‘Porphyria’s Lover’

and ‘My Last Duchess’ where in both cases, the male protagonists were

jealous of the extra attention that their lovers received from other

admirers. When studying both poems, the reader can create in their

mind a vivid picture of both the female characters. However, because

the male protagonists gave their view on their lovers, the reader is

only given details about the male protagonists’ feelings, not about

his features or qualities. Because of this, it needs to be taken into

account that the reader is assessing the situation from only one

particular point of view.

In both of the poems ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ the

reader is told that the male protagonist has murdered their lover as a

result of jealousy. However, the murders are entirely different.

In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ the relationship between Porphyria and her

lover is very positive and the reader can sense a strong bond between

the two characters. Lines 29-34 show how strong the bond is between

Porphyria and her lover. ‘For love of her and all in vain: So, she was

come through wind and rain. Be sure I look’d up at her eyes Happy and

proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshipp’d me surprise Made my heart

swell, and still it grew’. Because of this strong bond between the two

characters, there is evidence in the poem that Porphyria’s lover could

not handle the thought of them not being together, and for this reason

the lover murders Porphyria in a moment of passion. The reader c...

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...actions. For this

reason it would be correct for the reader to assume, that both of the

female characters are partly to blame for the male protagonists’

actions. This is because the female characters were not focusing on

their actual partners’ feelings, and were just pleasing themselves,

regardless of how the situation was affecting their partner, or loved

one.

I think that Browning has dealt with the theme of jealousy in great

depth and has shown the male protagonists’ feelings very thoroughly,

making it possible for the readers to even sympathise with the male

protagonists. Because of the way in which the theme of jealousy is

portrayed, the reader can have a great understanding of the emotions

the male protagonists are feeling throughout the poems. This makes the

poem and the consequences of the female character’s actions, a lot

easier to understand.