Porphyria's Lover Essay

The loss of a loved one is perhaps the most difficult experience that humans ever come up against. The poem Porphyria’s Lover, written by Robert Browning, adds a sense of irony to this. At the most superficial layer, the speaker’s in both Porphyria’s Lover and Neutral Tones, written by Thomas hardy, both deal with loss. The tones in Neutral Tones seem to be indifferent, or Neutral. Porphyria’s Lover speaker ends up murdering his beloved at the end the poem. While this isn’t the case with the speaker in Neutral Tones, the two speakers are much more similar than we might think. The speaker in Neutral Tones doesn’t outright murder his lover, but there is a considerable amount of disdain and contempt towards his supposed lover. The speaker in Porphyria’s Lover is quite obviously a disturbed man, the sinister nature of the speaker in Neutral Tones, however, is not as clear. Delving further into this idea, I will also discuss other obscure parallels throughout the two poems.

Matilda Gage stated ‘Both Church and State claiming to be of divine origin have assumed divine right of man over woman; while church and state have thought for man, man has assumed the right to think for woman.’ This summarises the ideas of the patriarchy and how men in society impacted women. The reason women's sexuality was condemned was because they did not fit the ideal woman in society or the role they were placed into domestically. This led to accusations and through the prejudice against women who did not fit the social spheres. Gage discusses how the use of the divine right led to the position of all authority and can be seen through how religion gave authorization of publications and government leading to the witch- hunts.

A fireplace is roaring inside the cottage when Porphyria arrives. The speaker clearly is attached to her and loves being with her. She comes in and dries off and they both sit on a bench together and appreciate each other. Then, all of a sudden he plays with her hair and wraps it “three times” around her throat, making sure she’s dead. However, three lines before that, the speaker says that “Happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria loved me” (Lines 32-33) He is exuberant with the final realization that she loves him. He seems to be so happy but after he kills her he feels as if this is the nicest thing he could do for her. Obviously, he becomes too obsessed. He becomes so obsessed with her that he seems to give up on just simply being happy with her and that he fears how God will judge him. He mentions how he makes sure she was dead which is another testament to the true insanity and the cautionary tale woven by the author. Thanks to the wonderfully crafted characters developed by Connell and Browning

It was World War I that eventually sticks the terminal date for the Victorian mind set. Women were forced to leave their households so that they could enter the workplace, thus gaining economic freedom; they were permitted to seek a higher education, and to even refuse sexual taboos. This is the time when the woman comes to knowthat she does not have to be dictated, and will not permit others’ interference in her own life. Unfortunately woman was deprived of every possibility to gain her ownindividuality, autonomy, and contentment of her talents. This paper presents a detailed account ofthe extreme strong male power over women and over her inner dreams and

The following paper will include evidence from Godey’s Lady’s Book and other academic sources to argue how the Cult of True Womanhood was strongly influenced by Christianity attitudes. Editor Sarah Josepha Hale goes against Christianity beliefs of domesticity and fights to end the gender binary by making contributions towards women entering and competing in the public sphere.

As the English Nonconformist minister, Matthew Henry, once said, “Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.” Henry portrays a presence of equality between male and female in which Their Eyes Were Watching God does not possess. Furthermore, life isn’t intended to always be fair, and the novel validates that to say the least, yet we see people such as Matthew Henry who recognize the importance of gender equality. In this novel however, women are portrayed as inferior in comparison to men. Their Eyes Were Watching God provides a

This leads us to believe that Porphyria has hurt him during their last meeting and makes us curious to know what Porphyria did to deserve his detestation. Yet still she pursues him, she becomes sensual and embraces him “

only way this is possible is to kill her. This occurs to him after he

Despite being under the rule of a female monarch, women faced many inequalities and suffering during the Victorian age. Examples of these inequalities include not having the right to vote, unequal educational and employment opportunities. Women were even denied the legal right to divorce in most cases. As the Norton Anthology states, these debates over women’s rights and their roles came to be known as the “woman question” by the Victorians. This lead to many conflicting struggles, such as the desire by all for women to be educated, yet they are denied the same opportunities afforded to men. While these women faced these difficulties, there was also the notion that women should be domestic and feminine. There was an ideal that women should be submissive and pure because they are naturally different. The industrial revolution introduced women into the labor workforce, but there was still a conflict between the two identities; one of an employed woman, and one of a domestic housewife.

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

The finest woks of Browning endeavor to explain the mechanics of human psychology. The motions of love, hate, passion, instinct, violence, desire, poverty, violence, and sex and sensuousness are raised from the dead in his poetry with a striking virility and some are even introduced with a remarkable brilliance.

In every society each gender’s behavioral response is often a reflection of the societal influences that have been instilled since birth. In every society each gender is subjected to certain roles. Males having to suppress their emotions while women are able to be emotional beings. Women being shunned for exhibiting characteristics of the opposite sex. Although, we live in a society that harps on individuality and self-expression, it is clear that this only applies when individuals do not feel inferior. Additionally, self-expression is only situational and accepted based off of certain agendas. In the following story, Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning, we are able to analyze how a male reacts to feeling inferior to a woman. In The Yellow Wallpaper, which is written by Charlotte Perkins, we are able to analyze how her husband’s lack of understanding and inability to communicate with his wife ultimately leads to her insanity. In each of these stories, gender roles are being depicted in a negative and positive way. Through the character’s actions were able to learn how society views each gender in the time in which the story takes place.

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.

Social standing, and moral values were vital elements in Victorian society, and the fundamental doctrine of establishing this ideology, began at home. The home provided a refuge from the rigour, uncertainty, anxiety, and potential violence of the outside world. (P, 341) A woman’s role was to provide a safe, stable, and well-organised environment for their husbands and families. However, change was on the horizon with an underlying movement of business and domestic changes both home and abroad, with industrialization, and the suffragist movement. Women were beginning to gain autonomy and began to grasp their opportunities, thus significantly curtailing male supremacy and the definable acceptable ‘role’ of the woman.

The title ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ may indicate to the reader the idea that the lover would be the only active article in the poem, especially if it was written by a male during those times. However, at the beginning of the poem Porphyria is immediately given the active role, she’s the one who “glided in” wanting to visit him “for love of her…/ through wind and rain”, she also “shut the out cold and storm”. This gives Porphyria a masculine physical ability as she has the power to “shut…out” something as sinewy as a storm, which goes against the female stereotype.