In My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover, how does Browning condemn the male personas view that the control they deem essential in a relationship can be attained only through violence?

In both poems, the men blame Porphyria and the Duchess for their own deaths due to what is deemed to be inexcusable behaviour. Browning however allows the reader to oppose the perspective of the male personas. In “Porphyria’s Lover” the lover’s descriptions of “vainer ties” are vague, so could be anything from another man to a social life excluding him. But as the reader is morally judgemental, no reason would be sufficient for murder. Even the lover himself feels the need to reassure himself of his action by saying “No pain felt she; / I am quite sure she felt no pain.” He also seems to fear God’s judgment as he says “And yet God has not said a word!” In “My Last Duchess” the Duke’s reasoning for his wife’s death shows irrational jealousy. He not only feels threatened by other men but of things, animals and even of the sunset which he describes as “The dropping of the daylight in the West.” As in “Porphyria’s Lover” the reader does not believe the Duchess deserves her fate despite the fact that it is told from the Duke’s point of view. His broken sentences show elements of self-doubt and he cannot clearly convey his argument for his partner’s death. “Somehow – I know not how…” It also appears that he senses his irrationality because he first states “Who’d stoop to blame / This sort of trifling?” yet he continues to do just that.

The Duke kills his wife in order to stop her looking as “her looks went everywhere.” This is because her role as wife is to be looked at, not to look at others. In death she is immortalised by means of a portrait in which she is trapped “looking as if alive” purely showing her husband’s success through her beauty. The Duke regains the control that he thought he had lost by keeping his wife hidden: “since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you but I”. The Duke murders his wife because he refuses to lower himself: “I chose / Never to stoop.” This idea of hierarchy between men and women is also portrayed in “Porphyria’s Lover”. Porphyria feels she has to provocatively offer herself in order to cheer her lover which is described by the male persona as “stooping”. The lover also states “Porphyria worshipped me” which conveys his heightened sense of ownership similar to the Duke’s emotions when viewing the portrait of his wife. The lover’s proclamation “That moment she was mine, mine” shows the power he holds over Porphyria and subsequently he kills her. In her death Porphyria becomes perfect to him as now he has total control. The Lover uses Porphyria’s corpse like a puppet, positioning her to create different scenes: “I propped her head up as before / Only, this time my shoulder bore / Her head” “And thus we sit together now / And all night long we have not stirred.” These grotesque actions give the reader the impression that the Lover is dramatising their lives together singlehandedly, perhaps to ensure that nothing will ruin their eternity together. He even continues to create her emotions and wishes for her. When doing this he objectifies her further by referring to her as it. “So glad it has its utmost will…” Although the Duke does not literally use his wife’s body as an object like Porphyria’s Lover, he uses the portrait he commissioned as a means of enjoying the visual aspects of his wife without having to deal with soul underneath. “I call / That piece a wonder now…” shows clearly how the Duke believes his wife merely to be a possession of his. However unlike Porphyria’s Lover, The Duke’s perfection is somewhat tainted by the fact that another man painted her with a look of “…depth and passion...” which reveals the personality underneath the face. In this patriarchal environment in which “My Last Duchess” was set women and paintings were often considered to be the same as they are both commodities which show the wealth and success of a husband. Beautiful paintings showed that the husband could afford a talented artist and beautiful women came with smaller dowries thus showing that the male figure could meet the expense of his wife.

The persona’s justifications for the murder of their partners are so weak that it is clear that Browning clearly deemed the male view that the best wife is a dead woman to be immoral. The characters’ personalities and the radical action taken provoke anger and shock within the reader and cause pity for the deceased women as Browning allows the reader to draw the conclusion that they were undeserving of their death. Not only does the murder seem unjust, but the way the male personas treat their dead lovers after their death stimulates bitterness. The Lover’s manipulating of Porphyria’s body presents a grotesque image whereas the Duke’s use of his wife’s portrait as a means of showing his power and success shows his character to be egotistical.