“A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and in all in vien”
This gives the impression that Porphyria does not love him with all her heart and maybe there is someone else. We already know that she is the powerful, leader of the relationship when he says
“And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm around her waist.”
This could tell us that he is jealous of her and her beauty and that he wants the power over the relationship because he is the man and he thinks that the men should have the control over women. He has realised he is not the only man who loves her so does not want her love for him shared with another man. If he can’t have her to himself then nobody is. We do not expect there to be a killing as we know that she is powerful and that he loved her, therefore the killing is quite sudden and unexpected.
“In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around
And strangled him, no pain she felt”
After he has killed her, Robert Browning suggests insanity in the male when he doen’t think anything of it. He reassures himself that there is nothing wrong with what he has done. There is a comparison between his love for her and the killing. He loves her but the jealousy of her not being entirely faithful to him drives him to it he wants to be the dominant person in the relationship.
“Laughed the blue eyes without a stain”
He opens her eyes and thinks in his mind that she is still alive and he has not done anything wrong. He treats her like she is still alive and sits her up.
The end of the poem is effective, it suggests a very private murder that not even god notices.
The content of the poem “Not to Blame” written by Joni Mitchell, is different to the content in “Porphyrias Lover” they both contain the dominant male but whereas in “Porphyrias Lover” you get the impression he has never hurt her before in “Not to Blame” it is very different. “Not to Blame” is told from the eyes of someone who knows about the female getting abused and you get the impression they know them quite well.
“The story hit the news
From coast to coast”
In “Not to Blame” the male character is potrayed as a well known person(he perhaps could be famous) and as you read through the poem you learn that he beat his girlfriend regularly.
“With your fist marks on her face”
People knew that he beat her but no one did anything to help, maybe because they were scared of him
“Your buddies stood by
Bet their fortunes
And their fame
That she was out of line
And you were not to blame”
I get the impression from this is that the male character has two personalities, one side of him is nice to his fans but once he is out of the lime light then he turns into a whole different person who thinks he can take advantage of the female character. His friends know that he is in the wrong but don’t do anything until it is too late. He thinks that she is the one in the wrong, so is willing to hurt her and even take things to far without thinking anything of it.
“Six hundred doctors are putting on rubber gloves
And are poking at the miseries made of love”
This shows the amount of miseries caused from love. From the poem we can see that once she is dead its too late and in cases like this we can see the government does not do enough to help these women who are suffering in silence. This is the impression that I think the writer wants to get across to the readers
He is not only abusing his girlfriend but he is also teaching his young son to be like him. We know this when it says
“I heard your baby say
When he was only three
“daddy, Lets get some girls
One for me and one for you””
This is shocking that the male is setting such a bad example that his son only at the age of three is starting to act like him.
He shows no remorse of what he has done and no one wants to cross him
although he was the one who was in the wrong not her.
The end is effective when it says
“He was out of line girl
You were not to blame”
The repetition of this line and then the sudden change in tone in how it is said is very effective because it reinforces the point that not only is she not to blame for his actions but also undermines the excuse he uses for his behaviour.
The title “Not to Blame” gives the impression that she is going to be the one who is not blamed but in fact it is him.
Both these poems use a rhyme scheme and they are both very effective. They are both written in verses and both use language effectively
“These red words that make a stain”
This is an example from “Not to Blame” This is effective because it puts across that the words are written in blood. This is a very powerful image and really makes you think and picture the image in your mind.
The themes of both the poems are alike. One of the reasons they do differ is the time periods in which they are written. The language used in “Porphyrias Lover” is suited to the time period it is written in. One place where this is shown is
“And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair”
Also the imagery which Robert Browning puts across is old
“Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl”
This gives away that the poem was written earlier than “not to Blame” as not many people would wear a shawl and cloak.
Both Poems use a variety of poetic devices. Irony plays a big part in “Porphyrias Lover” because he kills the one thing that has given him happiness. Pathetic fallacy is also used to set the scene when he says
“The sullen Wind was soon awake”
This sets the atmosphere to an angry one so we know something will happen.
“Not to blame has an irregular rhyme scheme which helps create a sense that the poet is speaking directly to us and the rhyme used helps emphasise the words and make them stand out more. We can see this here when the poem says
“I bleed
I bleed for your perversity”
It draws attention to the lines and makes you think of the message that the writer is trying to get across to the reader.
After studying both poems I would say these poems have similarities and differences. The main similarity is the male characters taking advantage of the weaker female character. Although they are similar the main differences are the time periods in which they are written and the that in “Porphyrias Lover” the killing is sudden and no one knew about it. In “Not to Blame” he is a well known person and people knew he was abusing his girlfriend but people were too
scared too say anything.
By Sinead Morgan
10H