Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess

Robert Browning provides a critical view of gender and power relations in his dramatic monologues “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess.” The dramatic monologue, as S.S. Curry has written, "reveals the struggle in the depths of the soul” (11). Browning delves into the minds of characters to show their conceptions of women and ideas of power. He explores the mental processes of the characters, and invites readers to question societal ideas of power and gender. The mental pathologies of the speakers is emphasized, which forces readers to examine the sanity of their own notions of gender dynamics.

In the Victorian age, the idea of separate spheres was an integral part of society. Men’s roles involved participation in the marketplace of the industrial society. Women, on the other hand, were expected to remain in the domestic sphere. They were assigned subordinate, and often passive roles, whereas men played direct roles in an industrial society, therefore being active agents.

William Greg’s review-essay “Prostitution” (1851) provides insight into societal conceptions of men and women and their respective roles. Although Greg believes prostitutes are treated unfairly by society, he nonetheless views prostitution as “the darkest, the knottiest, and the saddest” social problem “which philosophy has to deal with” (448). A critical reason prostitution is ostracized is because it violates traditional ideas of gender relations. Prostitutes are women who participate in the marketplace. They, therefore, venture outside the realm of their expected sphere, the home. This is dissonant with Greg’s view – which is a reflection of society’s view ...

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...nventional gender relationships. They were assumed to be the active agents and women were expected to be passive. Browning draws attention to the madness of the narrators by delving into their minds. In doing so, Browning forces readers to question their own conceptions of gender and power relations, since the men’s views are but an exaggeration of societal ideas concerning gender dynamics.

Works Cited

Browning, Robert. The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Volume III. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1971.

Curry, S.S. Browning and the Dramatic Monologue. Boston: Expression Company, 1908.

DeVane, William Clyde. A Browning Handbook. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1955.

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume I. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.

Greg, W.R. "Prostitution." The Westminster Review 53 (July 1850): 448-506.