How does Browning bring vividly to life the men and their relationships in Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess?

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How does Browning bring vividly to life the men and their relationships in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess”?

To be able to create a perceptibly vivid character in literature can be considered to be one of the greatest challenges in the literary world, and doing so to a level where the reader can truly empathise with the created character is a greater feat still. In this matter Browning truly was a literary genius as in less than sixty lines he manages to create two male protagonists that are living and breathing, ready to leap off the page. The different ways in which he achieves this are the structure of the entire poem, vocabulary and word choice, use of literary techniques and their differences in dealing with essentially the same subject.

The poem “Porphyria’s Lover,” which first appeared in 1836, is considered to be one of Browning’s most shocking monologues. The action of “Porphyria’s Lover” unfolds through the recounting of the events of one night, culminating in the murder of Porphyria, by the speaker himself. The structure of the poem could be described as one of twelve stanzas with an ababb rhyme structure, though it is most often printed as a block poem. The majority of the lines contain four iambic feet, though a few are pentasyllabic. The unusual rhyming structure used seems to be the first hint of the speaker’s mental discord, as it is his narrating voice that we are following. A factor that further heightens this, as yet hypothesis, about the narrator’s instability is the enjambment that is used throughout the poem. It reveals his unaffected, lackadaisical nature that relates to something that one truly should not be indifferent to.

“ …and all her hair

In one long yellow string I wound

Three times her little throat around,

And strangled her.”

This shows how unnaturally nonchalant and disorderly his thought processes are, his morbid un-emotionality piques our interest and causes the character to seem truly vivid. This element emphasises the tone and seems to make the understated nature even more sociopathic.

Another factor is the vocabulary Robert Browning uses. Most of the words are monosyllabic creating a simple mood that is not broken by the polysyllabic that are incorporated in a quiet and unassuming manner; they do not break the tense tranquillity of the piece.

“I am quite sure she felt no pain.

As a shut bud that holds a bee,

I warily oped her lids: again

Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.”

Here we see the simplistic almost naïve way in which the speech is narrated. Much of the force of the narrative lies in its practically innocent clarity and in the corresponding quiet, matter-of-fact tone of voice that seems to heighten the severity of the actual actions. The line “No pain felt she, I am quite sure she felt no pain” accentuates the horror of the going on by its seemingly childish-like affirmations. The detached, emotionless account with the cold and distant metaphor creates a chilling effect, by which the character of the speaker is made more vivid.

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Also, Browning uses literary techniques to truly bring the character to life. One such example is the pathetic fallacy that used to not only set the mood for the entire poem, but also the mind set and mental state of the actual speaker.

“The rain set early in tonight,

The sullen wind was soon awake,

It tore the elm-tops down for spite,

And did its worst to vex the lake:

I listened with heart fit to break.”

Immediately we are introduced into a setting where the weather is dark and gloomy. The use of personification instantly hints at ...

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