Another way he demonstrates his insanity is in the way he opens her eyes, holds and kissses her when shr is dead. After he has done this he believes she “blushed bright beneath my burning Kiss.” This behavior is both neurotic and frightening.
Porphyria is seen as being graceful, she “glides” through the door and also as a very warm person, by the way she brings warmth into the cottage, When she came in she “shut the cold and the storm out”. As the reader reads on we see her seductiveness, she “put my arm about her waist and made her …shoulder bare” After this has happened the Lover states his critisisem of her. He says she is “too weak” and proud and vain. This however tells more about the character of the Lover than that of Porphyria, it shows his very high expectations and his dissatisfaction.
We are led to believe the cottage in which they meet is isolated and that it doesn’t belong to either of them. This gives us the sense of secrecy and seclusion which is reflected in their love for each other. There also seems to be barriers between where Porphyria has come from and the cottage , like the storm. This is also true in their relationship, and I think this comparative difference is a very effective image in putting across the sense of troubles that she encounters because of her inadequacy.
The poem moves on to be very warm and loving in contrast to this previous image of the storm. Yet the idea of a hidden uneasiness is shown subtly show through the adjectives used to describe the grate, as “cheerless”, this gives the sense that something is wrong.
This idea is continued and developed when the Lover firstly does not answer when Porphyria calls him and then when it says that she “put his arm about her waist” this use of “put” also gives the sense of it not all being quite right.
This flows into the seductiveness of porpyria, which contrasts greatly with the next image, which is chilling and terrifying. It is developed from the idea of worship to the easiness in which he states ”I strangled her” and in the events which follow. We are also shocked by his audacity in saying “no pain felt she”.
These events are melodromatic and this helps to createn and develop the effectiveness of the whole poem.
The storm in the beginning mirrors the events that the people in the poem experience. The poet uses personification in describing the storm’s effect on the surrounding environment. “The sullen wind (that)… did it’s worst to vex the lake” and the “spite” of the elm-trees. The “sullen” is an accurate description of the way in which the Lover acts towards Porphyria.
The brewing storm gives the sense of forboding. The Lover also says “I listen heart fit to break” this gives signals the sense of something being wrong.
The idea of Porphyria bringing warmth into the room contrasts with the image of the storm outside. The lack of response also creates a very tense atmosphere in the cottage, and the lack of response is the Lover acting sullen, reflecting the behaviour of the storm. This reference of the Lover’s response, as being sullen, like the storm is effective in conjuring up images of distress and uneasiness.
This lack of response leads Porphyria to be very seductive. She also tries to control the situation in a very loving way. She seems able to voice her feelings freely as well, “murmuring how she loved me.” Porphyria then takes his arm and puts it around her, this shows her need for physical contact. She places her hair in a way that is appealing and puts his cheek on her bare shoulder. This shows a very seductive side of Porphyria.
However, all this seduction does not satisfy the Lover. He wants to be worshipped and by always wanting more than Pophyria seems to give him he feels in control and eventually worshipped.
The poets use of “too” implies an imperfection. The Lover critisises Porphyria, he says she is “too weak for her hearts endeaver” He also believes she is too “proud, and vainer ties dissever, and give herself to me.” This makes him feel so good that his “heart swells”. He then, however, feels that she is “mine, mine” the repitition of this word emphasises his arrogance. He decides that he must kill her, he wants to immortalise the moment that he feels is perfect. He achieves this by strangling her. He uses her hair and wraps it around her neck three times. The poet uses enjambemant, as the section is three lines long, this emphasise both the length of her hair and the amount of times it encircles her neck.. the length of this sentence contrasts greatly with the following statement “And strangled her.”. It is short, to the point and has no emotion in it. This is chilling, and shows the way the Lover has no regret for his actions.
The next line is shocking, “no pain felt she” the idea that he would know whether or not she felt any pain or not is unbelievable.
The next few lines contain an effective use of imagery ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
This idea of the Lover lying and kissing Porphyria all night, even though she is dead, is alarming.
The poem changes tense now and is brought into the present. The Lover is lying with Porphyria and “ her head, which droops upon it(his shoulder)still.” The Lover also belives he has given Pophyria her wish, to be able to set free her feelings. Again we see his arrogance and the way he presumes he knows that that was her wish. He belives that “porphyria love; knew not how her…wish would be heard.”
He remarks how “glad” he is that “it has its will” He stresses his control over her by refering to Porphyria as “it”, like an object of his that he has complete power over.
The lover even believes that what he has done is right as “god has not said a word.” This is a worrying thought and it makes the reader ask what the Lover expected God to do to show his objection, or disapproval.
At the end of the poem we are left to wonder how long they layd in each others arms and what, if anything, happens to the Lover.
My Last Duchess is also written using dramatic monologue. However, unlike Porphyria’s Lover, it is spoken to an ambassador, and it is informal. The Duke is arranging to marry a women, through the father’s ambassador.
The concept of the Duke’s dominance is made immedeatly apparent. The first indication of this is in the way in which it is only one person speaking, continuously through out the poem. This, like Porphyria’s Lover, is only one stanza long which emphasises the idea of the Duke talking constantly.
The poem is in rhyming couplets and uses a pentameter rhythm all the way through. The length of the lines, as with Porphyria’s Lover, are constant all the way through the poem.
This poem is about a very controling husband. The Duke freely admits to having his wife murdered, and expects to be veiwed as powerful, wealthy, succcessful, and in complete control. It seems he wants the ambassader to fear him.
He wishes to impress the ambassader.
Intitielly we perceive the Duke as being very powerful.As he believes he should be able to marry the amassador’s master’s daughter. This is shown through the idea having control
