Insanity In Porphyria's Lover By Robert Browning

Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue, Porphyria’s Lover, illustrates the musings of a madman as he justifies his heinous actions. The message of the poem is revealed through the underlying irony as the speaker fails to recognize his apparent mental illness. Order is put against chaos as Browning satirizes ideals of the Victorian society, ultimately displaying the contradictory embrace of morality and the rejection of sexuality. Linking sensuality and violence, Browning’s portrayal of a psychopathic, possessive male speaker unveils the struggle to behave within society’s limited notion of what is considered appropriate. Characteristic of a dramatic monologue, the poem is written as a first person narrative. That being said, the reader is only provided with the male speaker’s perspective and the

It is not until Porphyria “murmur[s] how she loves [him]” (21) that his insanity begins to shine through. Her “smooth white shoulder bare” (17), Porphyria breaks the social confines of women in the Victorian era. This, in the speaker’s mind, confirms her love for

Convinced that “Porphyria worship[s] [him]” (33), he becomes desperate to prevent her from returning to her place in society and abandoning him. His sanity finally coming into question, the narrator immortalizes the moment, removing her ability to leave— “I found/A thing to do and all her hair/In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her throat around/And strangled her” (37-41). The speaker views this as a noble act, remarking that “God has not said a word” (60). Porphyria’s “smiling rosy little head” (52) is, to him, an expression of gratitude as he believes he has saved her from the deafening contradictions of human