In “Porphyria’s Lover” the opening scene is the narrator describing the setting and atmosphere, “the rain set early in tonight”. This makes the reader aware of some kind of danger or corruption, which will take place. Browning uses pathetic fallacy to describe the moody of the characters, “storm” “the sullen wind was soon awake”.
In both of the poems, Browning using different themes to illustrate how men treated women. Browning uses the theme of jealousy in the two poems. In “My Last Duchess” the Duke explains how he has his wife killed because of they way she looked at other men, “she thanked men, -good! But thanked somehow – I know not how”. However, this was not the case she was not looking at men in a sexual or provocative way, this shows how possessive and obsessed the Duke is and how he did not intend to share his wife with anyone. The lover in “Porphyria’s Lover” is deeply in love with Porphyria and is heart broken when he finds out that she wants to break up. The lover is desperate for her not to leave him, “She was mine” which leads to him killing her because he feels that it is the only way they can be together. The theme of death is used in “My last Duchess”. Declaring death on another person is the ultimate control that someone can have, “I gave command” this show how much power the Duke has got as he can get someone to take another persons life. Browning is explaining how poorly women were being treated in his era. This theme of death is also used in “Porphyria’s Lover”, as Porphyria is killed by her lover, “I strangled her”. The lover is mentally ill, as he does not think that he has done anything wrong, “God has not said a word”. Once the lover has killed Porphyria, he sits with the dead body, “thus we sit together now” as he feel that they can now be together, this shows how he is mentally unbalanced and thinks that what he has done is for love, “its love”.
In both of the poems the, both of the men describe the women as there possessions. In, “My Last Duchess” the Duke shows how he feels that women are only like objects to him. The servant is told to look at a painting of his last wife, “look at her”. The painting is a symbol of a trophy, he had his wife killed and yet has a painting of her on his wall, and this shows that he has no sympathy and guilt which displays what a malicious horrible man he is. The painting is also to demonstrate the Dukes power, that he can be open to everyone what he has done. This gives the Duke ultimate power to know people are scared of him. The title, “My Last Duchess” is very significant because it shows how the Duke has had more than just one wife. These suggest that women were only an item to him which if did not satisfy him, he who gets rid of. Browning is trying to explain to the reader that men in his era are very controlling over women. “Porphyria’s Lover” is also about a man who is possessive of his partner. This is seen in a different way than, “My Last Duchess”. The lover is mentally ill and thinks he is doing the right thing, “and I, its love, am gained instead” he thinks that Porphyria wants to be with him and this is the only way it can be achieve. Even after Porphyria is dead the lover keeps the body, “I propped her head up as before” this is a insane thing to do and uses her body like a manikin.
Browning wrote the two poems because there is a moral to them. Browning explains in his two poems how women were ill-treated in his time. Browning disagrees with the attitudes towards women. He explains that women were looked upon as the weaker sex and that they were treated like the lover class. This may just mean that men look down on women, since in, “Porphyria’s Lover” Porphyria has a well-bred name and the lover always stays anonymous. This shows how women were portrayed as unstable, but this was not so, Browning shows how the two male lovers in the poems are the unstable ones why result to murder through jealousy2.
