“She shut the cold out and the storm”
This is particularly effective because Browning uses monosyllables to enforce its meaning; it is as though as soon as Porphyria enters nothing now matters. She wants to communicate with her lover; she is trying to gain his attention by flirting and teasing him. Browning uses contrasts of colours “cheerless grate Blaze up” this is predominantly effective because it also personifies the grate. Porphyria realises she is failing to attain his attention and so begins to remove outer garments. This is seductive and erotic; the attire she is wearing is another sign that Porphyria is wealthier than the lover. In the Victorian era “cloak”, “shawl”, “gloves” and “hat” are all signs of affluence. The lover is watching with resentment as she does this. There is animosity between them, mostly from the lover, and so he ignores her. 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
“And made her smooth white shoulder bare”
It was a sign of class to have white skin, yet another distinction of wealth. She becomes physical trying to tempt him with seduction. We do not know to what degree she loves him and must ask ourselves is she genuine? Is it love or just fun? But Porphyria tries her hardest to seduce him and gain his attention; this shows the lengths she has to go to to obtain his interest. The lover sees Porphyria as a possession and is reluctant to give in to her, making her feel unwanted. It soon becomes an intimate moment were Porphyria says she loves him
“Murmuring how she loved me”
By murmuring her words Browning has made it sexual and so it conveys a secretive breathless image. The lover is bitter towards her and we find out why; he feels she does not have the strength to separate from her family and friends and resents her wealth
“To set its struggling passion free
From pride and vainer ties dissever”
No matter how she tries she can not let her heart rule, she is too weak to set that passion free, this is what he represents and shows the struggle in their relationship. If Porphyria did reveal her relationship with the lover then she would have been cut off from her family; it was considered a disgrace to fall for someone poor.
“And give herself to me for ever”
This is what angered him, the fact that she would not give herself to him and sacrifice everything for him. This is the crux of the poem; the lovers obsessive nature for Porphyria. Yet the lover says that passion sometimes would prevail and that his love for her is secondary. The lover is putting his love for Porphyria second even though she has made an effort to come and see him her efforts are futile.
“A sudden though of one so pale”
The lover is love sick and his love for her is eating away at him until he actually believes himself to be ill. Browning choice of language becomes very apparent in this part of the poem, the lover becomes almost manic
“I looked up at her eyes Proud, very proud;”
He seems very dark, sadistic and almost insane at this point and sees Porphyria as an object and wants to control/own her. Browning allows us to see the beginning of the lovers thought process. He is egocentric, to say Porphyria “worshipped” him, to use worshipped shows this he is so full of pride that Browning repeats it. He wants to be the centre of her world and will do whatever it takes to accomplish it; he is unbalanced and desperate for her love. Browning is now suspending the moment of Porphyria’s death and the lover is thinking over whether to kill her
“While I debated what to do”
He is considering pro’s and con’s, a redeeming feature for a moment, holding on to it. Browning makes it seem mechanical, erotic and even fetish and repeats a personal, possessive pronoun “mine, mine”. He is able to capture the moment forever by killing her. We can see that as the tension is building the sentence structure is longer and more fluent and seems to have trivialised it. Browning seems to mention Porphyria’s hair on many occasions, which was a symbol of lifestyle and a place within society. The lover makes his decision and wraps Porphyria’s hair around her neck and strangles her, quick, smooth and soft, taking away the fact that he is killing her. She did not struggle; this shows the haste at which he has murdered her. He tries to assert him self by repeating no pain
“no pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain”
He is desperately trying to convince himself of this, and compares her to a flower as she is so beautiful and because as a shut bud her life has been cut short, unable to blossom. He would be the bee; with the potential to cause danger. Yet now he opens her eyes, fearing the blank expression, but his happy with the out come. The lover thinks “again laughed the blue eyes without a stain” this is because he would rather think she did not suffer pain during her murder. Her eyes show no passion, they are sterile, but the lover believes she is supporting him when laughing but could be mocking.
He believes that, in death, she is blushing from his kiss which leads us to believe he is delusional and insane.
“Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss;”
Browning’s use of alliteration shows how passionately he kissed her, fuelled with a sexual desire. Browning cleverly uses the verb “propped” to give an ungainly image of Porphyria, lifeless of body, and he wants her, he possesses her. This time it is she that needs him, she was not strong enough before but now it is she that needs him. He is trying to make comparisons from before and now, he wants to go back to that moment and hold it.
“I propped her head up as before,”
We see that, in death, the head is extremely heavy now because he now has to hold it in place; she has now been reduced to a limp corpse.
The lover depersonalises her by thinking for her, and now she truly is, his possession. He feels he has won the battle with her wealth family and friends
“And I, its love, am gained instead!”
He now believes that he has evaded the law and has her forever now, unwilling to share her with anyone else. He feels God is condoning his actions, and will not be punished, he is arrogantly believing he has escaped charges of murder.
