My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover by Robert Browning

The Theme of Love “Romantic love, physical love, unrequited love, obsessive love.” Compare the ways the poets have written about the theme of love, bringing out different aspects of it. In the six poems I have studied, I see a wide range of different types of love mentioned. I will be looking at 3 poems in depth. These are: “Porphyria’s Lover”, written by Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess”, written by the Duke of Ferrara and “To His Coy Mistress”, written by Andrew Marvell. When it comes to romantic love, “To His Coy Mistress” contains some elements of it.

Robert Browning compares the love Duke Ferrara has for his Duchess with the obsession of Porphyria's lover. The Duke has a jealous, stubborn, and irrational love for his Duchess. Likewise, Porphyria's is the recipient of a sinister, uncontrolled, and destructive love. Her mysterious admirer is overwhelmed by Porphyria's supreme beauty and her sensual mannerisms. Porphyria and the Duchess experience similar outcomes that result in the death of both women.

In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ Browning gives the reader a dramatic insight into the twisted mind of an abnormally possessive lover, who wishes the moment of love to last forever. In this essay, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ will be compared to Robert Browning’s other dramatic monologue, ‘My Last Duchess’, where an Italian aristocrat reveals his cruelty to his late wife whilst showing off a portrait of her to one of his guests. Robert Browning’s poems ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ were both written in the form of a dramatic monologue. Both poems show a similarity because they are both narrated from the male lover’s point of view. As a result, the reader becomes more closely involved in the poems and can feel very strong emotions for the individuals portrayed than if the poem was written from the eyes of an ‘outsider’.

Exploration of the Different Aspects of Love in Poetry In the Victorian and Elizabethan times there were many poems, which explored the aspect of love. The metaphysical group of poets explored the whole experience of man, which was usually romantic or sensual. The poems I will talk about are "The Flea" by John Donne (1572-1631), "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell (1621-78), "The Sick Rose" by William Blake (1757-1827), "A Woman To Her Lover" by Christina Walsh in the Victorian era and "Upon Julia's Clothes" by Robert Herrick (1591-1674). These poems cover lust, an aspect of love, and this was very controversial in the Victorian and Elizabethan times. Lust was very controversial in those times as it went against social codes and religion.

Not much is said about the portrait except that is lifelike and captures the duchess’s emotional state. The Duchess’s smile and joyous state are the biggest signs of imagery in the portrait itself and the poem. According to the Duke, he thinks their worthless because ... ... middle of paper ... ...s all about power and jealousy, the Duke becomes jealous of the attention his wife shows to other people. He takes command and decides that murder is his only solution. The Duke wants people to understand his authority, any sense of emotion that his wife expressed was considered a threat to his power.

She would act as a pleasant book cover, covering the intelligent dominant man. In Browning’s poems, however, the characters are often men and women caught at moments of anxiety and obsession. Since they tend to reveal more than they actually intend, the interest of the poems lies in discovering what lies beneath the words that are actually spoken. This relates to Robert Browning’s description as ‘a love poet who was acutely aware of how women and men can be separated by jealously or the passing of time’. I will be studying five of Browning’s poems including: My Last Duchess, a dramatic monologue in which the Duke speaks to an imaginary listener about a painting of his last duchess.

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.

They needed a release of everyday life, something they could read by the fire at night that would take them away into another world. Poe was a master at this. In the first two stanzas of Poe's The Raven, we learn of the setting for the narrator's psychological breakdown. The tone and mood is set from the opening line, "Once upon a midnight dreary," which captures the reader and holds tight. Through his use of imagery and rhythm of the tapping on the door, and his moaning of his lost Lenore the reader knows that is no ordinary poem about a man haunted by his beloved.

The epitome of passion lies in the lovers, who believe they are in unfathomable love but are blinded by their obsession. Romeo states in a monologue, “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs.” (1.1.181). This metaphor explores the complex view Romeo possesses about love and his belief that love can bring both pleasure and pain, further emphasised by the oxymoron, “ O Brawling love, O loving hate” (1.1.166). After Romeo’s death, Juliet’s obsession for him combined with her extreme emotional state causes her to hallucinate and to take her life with him. This is supported by her statement, “O happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die” (5.3.182), in which her infatuation for Romeo is emphasised

The two poems I have chosen to compare for this essay are 'How do I love thee?' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and 'A Birthday' written by Christina Rosetti. Both of these poems describe love in different ways, the two poets use many different ways to describe the sensation of love. They can use the use of colours, object, or living thing to show the sensation. The poets use objects to show their love, as love in an emotion it cannot be seen or touched, so the poets try to turn this emotion into something they can touch, see and feel.