There are many similarities in the characteristics of the speakers. For example, they are both very self-centered. There is irony in the title: “My Last Duchess” because we actually learn more about the speaker than his last wife. In both of the poems, their selfish attitude is revealed by the way that Browning frequently uses the words me, my, I.
They also share similarities in characteristics such as jealousy, possessiveness and a need for constant control. In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ the speaker was jealous that Porphyria could not spend all of her time with him, as she had other obligations to fulfill and the reader get the sense that she cant draw herself away from the someone/something else which made her lover very jealous. He has a very possessive nature, as he wanted Porphyria to “give herself to me for ever,” and killing her was a means of keeping her like a personal possession: “That moment she was mine, mine," The last section of the poem is when the speaker kills Porphyria by using her own hair to strangle her, “and all her hair In one little string I would Three times around her little throat”. He convinces himself that she didn’t feel pain “No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain” he says this to himself as if to justify what he has done. It is quite chilling that after he has killed her he does not condemn himself or feel as though he has done anything wrong “as God has not said a word!” He now has the possession and control over her that he always wanted, “we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred,”
The poem, My Last Duchess has a great likeness to Porphyria’s Lover. We learn a great deal about the Duke's character by hearing how he thought and felt about his last Duchess. Through his speech, the reader can see how he is very jealous and controlling, which leads us to believe that he may have dishonorable qualities. The poem starts with the Duke describing the picture to the emissary. In the first few lines, we can already tell that the Duke is obsessed with power by his choice of words. He uses a lot of ‘my’ and ‘I’ which suggest that he is also very selfish. The Duke was very obsessive over his wife and wanted power and control over her: "I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together." The reader is inclined to feel that the Duke was unable to control her when she was alive, however, he now has control over her through the painting, which is similar to Porphyria's Lover only the speaker has possession of her body instead of a painting. Both of the speakers are very cold-hearted. The speaker in 'My Last Duchess' does not make an effort to hide his actions and has a very unrepentful tone. Although the speakers in both poems have either killed or have had someone killed; neither of them show any guilt or remorse for their actions.
There are also some differences in the two speaker's personalities. For example, Porphyria's Lover is not arrogant or full of pride, unlike the speaker in 'My Last Duchess.' For example when he says "I choose never to stoop." He also shows signs of arrogance and an extreme sense of family pride when he is talking about his last duchess, "I know not how - as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody's gift." This shows how the Duke thinks he is more important than anybody else and how he thought his wife was lucky to have his family name. The Duke also reveals how impatient he is by the way he described his last wife. The Duke also reveals his impatience by the fact that he has another lady lined up to marry. When his wife didn’t respond in the way he wanted her too, he got very impatient and in the poem he does not talk favorably about her: "too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked what'er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere." He then accuses her of misbehaving which he did not like, as he was not in control of her; "Who'd stoop to blame, This sort of trifling." The speaker voices a negative view of her, which contrasts to Porphyria's Lover.
The speaker mostly describes Porphyria, but never describes himself. However, he subtly lets the reader understand what he is feeling and going through and this element is used to indirectly reveal the speaker's character. The speaker talks highly of Porphyria and it is evident that he loved her dearly, as he felt that she "shut the cold out and the storm" and "made the cottage warm." He talks about her in a very sexual way. She returns home dripping wet and removes her outdoor clothing and "made her smooth white shoulder bare" and her "yellow hair displaced." The way that the speaker describes her shows the reader how much he admired her, which is very different to how the Duke talked about his wife.
After looking at the two poems, it is clear that the speakers have many similarities and differences. The main contrast was the social status of the speakers. The Duke was very wealthy, lived in a mansion and was of high social status, whereas Porphyria's lover was not particularly rich and lived in a small cottage. Some of their personality traits also differed. The Duke was more arrogant and full of pride and I think this was due to his wealth. The speaker in 'Porphyria's Lover' loved Porphyria a lot and spoke fondly of her, however the Duke was not always as kind about his wife, and often spoke negatively about her. They also had similar traits such as obsession, possessiveness and a need for control over people. The Duke was unable to "tame" and control his wife and the lover was unable to possess Porphyria and these common characteristics of the two speaker's lead to the death of their loved ones.
