As the reader examines "Prophyria's Lover" by Robert Browning, one recognizes the complete effort of the speaker to disguise his feelings toward the murder of his wife. The speaker goes through different thoughts in relation to the life he has with his wife. Many thoughts include the positive and negative parts about her and their relationship. Throughout the monologue, the speaker tells the readers of his struggles of coming to the conclusion of murdering his wife and the reasons to do so. In “Prophyria’s Lover”, the speaker is faced with many types of insanity before, during, and after the murder of his wife, Prophyria because of the love he has for her.
The speaker is beginning to go insane when Prophyria completely ignores her husband when she comes into the bedroom. She continuously makes very noticeable movements that are noticed by her husband. She drops her long beautiful hair out of her cloak to show her husband. Her husband realizes that she is trying to make him notice her when the speaker says, "Prophyria worshiped [him]; surprise/ Made [his] heart swell, and still it grew/ While [he] debated what to do" (Browning 33-35). The speaker knows he has to do something about the situation once he knows that she is not ever going to leave him. Once he knows that she is not ever going to leave his side, he takes control of her in the worst way possible, which is shown when the speaker says:
That moment she was [his], [his], fair,
Perfectly pure and good: [he] found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string [he] wound
Three times her little throat around
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
[He is] quite sure she felt no pain. (36-42).
He ends up strangling Prophyria with her own hair, which s...
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...h droops upon it still:” (49-51). The speaker becomes very possessive of his wife, shown when he props her head upon his shoulder to rest peacefully. This type of love becomes very intense and can, as shown here, potentially have an ending of indefinite love by murder.
People’s decisions can be majorly influenced by love and insanity. In “Prophyria’s Lover”, the speaker has to face his inner emotions of love towards his wife, which in the end lead to the murder of his own wife. The struggles of facing inner self has been a cause of the deaths of many people in the world. It can be the struggles of a single person alone, or can be struggles a person may have in which they take another persons life because of the relationship they have between one another.
Works Cited
Harvey, Richard G.. The Wascana Poetry Anthology. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 1996.
There are many forces in the tragic play of Romeo and Juliet that are keeping the two young, passionate lovers apart, all emanating from one main reason. In this essay I will discuss these as well as how love, in the end, may have been the cause that led to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Their strong attraction to each other, which some call fate, determines where their forbidden love will take them.
Thehusband's role to his wife is plays a major role in the spiritual suicide of thewife. The reason spiritual suicide and not madness or extreme psychosis is usedis because the wife in her final throes of lucidity recognizes that the paper'spattern holds a woman in its grasp and that by this rude hand the life of thewoman is left to "creeping about" lurking like a disgruntled sha...
...l concept, many consequences can arise as a result of it. Their display of self-destructive and reckless behavior endorses the idea that young lovers are not yet mature enough to handle the ramifications that appear as a result of a complicated relationship. Their willingness to rush into major events, such as marriage and even death, further shows how passion can cloud one’s judgement and control one’s thoughts and actions. Though written a long time ago, the message that Shakespeare conveys in Romeo and Juliet about young, passionate love applies to modern society as well, where great consequences arise from people acting on emotional impulse as opposed to calm reasoning.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
Can a simple emotion such as love be regarded as one of the greatest weapons to create or attain power? It’s a renowned fact that human beings are by nature designed to need, crave, and even require love as part of their survival mechanisms. It comes to no surprise that one of the first accounts of antique poetry maintains love and the craving for it as its main theme; thereby, reinforcing the deep importance that it upholds in the lives of many individuals. Sappho’s “Deathless Aphrodite” clearly epitomizes the suffering and bitterness that arises from an unrequited love. In Sappho’s case, which portrays the case of many, she constantly finds herself in loneliness and despair for though she tries repeatedly, she is only let down recurrently as no one reciprocates the love she gives. It is only the Greek goddess Aphrodite, who holds
... Their hasty, skin-deep avidity, coupled with the decisions made under the influence of love, caused Romeo and Juliet to sacrifice their lives in a futile bout of adolescent passion. Love can induce a state of mind that is intensified with great emotion, in which reason and sanity no longer seem relevant. “These violent delights have violent ends/ and in their triumph die, like fire and powder. ”(Romeo and Juliet, II.vi.9-10).
In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues, “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess”, both portray women that are killed by their significant others. In “Porphyria’s Lover” her lover seems to be obsessed and not wanting to let her go, whereas in “My Last Duchess”, the speaker appears to be jealous by the woman. By having these two different deaths, why does Browning have the men commit these acts on the woman they love? Perhaps he wants to demonstrate and justify how these acts of crimes where done in the name of love or does he want us to acknowledge certain flaws that made them act on their crimes.
The purpose of this essay is to analyze and compare and contrast the two paired poems “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning and “My Ex-Husband” by Gabriel Spera to find the similarities presented within the pairs. Despite the monumental time difference between “My Last Duchess” and “My Ex-Husband”, throughout both poems you will see that somebody is wronged by someone they thought was a respectable person and this all comes about by viewing a painting on the wall or picture on a shelf.
"Porphyria's Lover" is an exhilarating love story given from a lunatic's point of view. It is the story of a man who is so obsessed with Porphyria that he decides to keep her for himself. The only way he feels he can keep her, though, is by killing her. Robert Browning's poem depicts the separation of social classes and describes the "triumph" of one man over an unjust society. As is often the case in fiction, the speaker of "Porphyria's Lover" does not give accurate information in the story.
In essence, Elizabeth Barrett Browning dramatic monologue proved a powerful medium for Barrett Browning. Taking her need to produce a public poem about slavery to her own developing poetics, Barrett Browning include rape and infanticide into the slave’s denunciation of patriarchy. She felt bound by women’s silence concerning their bodies and the belief that “ a man’s private life was beyond the pale of political scrutiny” (Cooper, 46).
The Symposium, The Aeneid, and Confessions help demonstrate how the nature of love can be found in several places, whether it is in the mind, the body or the soul. These texts also provide with eye-opening views of love as they adjust our understanding of what love really is. By giving us reformed spectrum of love, one is able to engage in introspective thinking and determine if the things we love are truly worthy of our sentiment.
In conclusion, both the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the poem Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning share the theme of the longing for everlasting love and losing all moral standards when trying to achieve this affection. The theme of the longing for everlasting love is seen in the demand that Frankenstein’s monster makes for a female. This theme is also seen in the way that Porphyria’s lover is delighted to find out that Porphyria loves him. The theme of losing all moral standards when trying to achieve affection is seen in the threats Frankenstein’s monster makes when Victor Frankenstein refuses to make a Female monster. This theme is also seen when Porphyria’s lover kills her, so he can be with her eternally.
In ‘Porphyria’s Lover,’ the speaker appears to be honestly and simply recounting the events of his final encounter with Porphyria. However, Robert Browning’s careful use of meter (Iambic Tetrameter), rhyme and repetition betrays his true state of mind. He uses phrases like “Mine, Mine!” to help enforce this.
It was a tale of two lovers uniting in the night to express their affection and devotion. So how exactly did this tale of love, end in cruel, cold-blooded murder? Good evening and welcome to Poetry Break Down, I’m your host Mary Doe. Tonight, we will delve into the fascinating world of classic Victorian literature. Under the microscope is canonized poet, the late Robert Browning. Browning’s poetry was a reflection of his life and times living in Victorian England. Later on this evening we will analyze just how his times came to play a major role in some of his greatest works, in particular his revered poem Porphyria’s Lover. Released in 1836 (Catherine Maxwell, 1993, p.27), this esteemed text follows the murder of beloved Porphyria, the lover of the enigmatic speaker who, after inviting her to his cottage for a romantic rendezvous, strangles her. Stay tuned, for tonight we explore just how this poem come to be a perfect representation of a society that was obsessed with the dominate preoccupation of male dominance.
A Comparison of the Dramatic Monologues of Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning