“Or blush, at least. She thanked men, - good! but thanked
somehow - I know not how - As she ranked
my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
with anybody's gift.”
This crime wasn’t for love but for possession, like an item which can be easily dispensed if not inappropriate. After, he does regret doing this, because he mentions her being alive in the poem:
“There she stands as if alive”
almost as if he is wishing that he didn’t kill her, and now realises he wasn’t thinking about the situation, which could've been dealt with by a simple conversation, and without thinking has maliciously caused the death of his loved one.
When they married he gave her his nine hundred year old name, for her love and respect, which she isn’t giving him. She is not giving him everything he expects and doesn’t seem to care about their marital status. He kills her because, although he loves her, he can’t bear to watch her flirt with other men, and loose her. Also he is worrying about his social status, and what would happen to him, and without thinking, kills her. I think this is the main reason that he kills his wife in My Last Duchess.
The men in both these monologues have there status to think about. In Porhyria’s Lover, if word got out to Porhyria’s husband about this affair then Porhyria’s lover would be in serious trouble, even killed. Also in the Victorian era if anybody else found out about affairs, then he could loose his job and be made a social outcast, and she could be tortured and killed. So this was also a crime that was committed selfishly, but also in act of love. In My Last Duchess this man is a Duke, and if word got out that his Duchess was not being faithful to her husband, or even having an affair, then he would be shamed, and even stripped of his title of a Duke.
The women in both these monologues are killed for two totally different reasons; in Porphyria’s Lover she is killed because her lover doesn’t want to let her go, and be with another man, he wanted to be with her forever.
“Only, this time my shoulder bore her head, which droops upon it still;”
This quote shows how he wanted to be with her, although lifeless, he is in control and this is what he wanted.
But in My Last Duchess, the duchess is killed because she is flirting with other men, not giving him the respect he wants, and he has no control over her. His way of controlling her and stopping her from flirting, is to kill her, which is an evil and wrong thing to do. In both these monologues the men both seem to want the same thing: control and full possession of their women, to make them feel more powerful and more in control of the situation.
In conclusion to these dramatic monologues, I think that Robert Browning does create a chilling picture of evil that men can commit to women, all for control of their women. In Porphyria’s Lover the crime he commits is for the burning love for Porhyria, and although selfless, its is more for love than hate. Where as My Last Duchess, the crime he commits against his duchess is out of spite and for control, because he isn’t getting the respect he wants.
