“She put my arm around her waist, “ And made her smooth white shoulder bare,”
This is a very odd sentence as it was written in the Victorian era they prided themselves on having luxuries especially people of a higher class. Porphyria’s shoulder being described as white, also her hair later on is described as yellow not gold which is what you would expect, as this is very unromantic of the man to describe the women he supposedly loves. As to why Browning used this I can only think is colour symbolism. Browning making Porphyria blonde I don’t believe to be coincidence. Other than the obvious fair people are often linked with virtue, also yellow is associated with riches. Although why not gold Browning may have wanted to keep the poem plane and unembellished. I think that Porphyria may have been part of the higher class as she attended gay feasts and only those of high status would do so.
Again lines 36-40 change the mood again. Until this point the poem had been very cold and full of anger to warmth and watchfulness. But now it slowly changes
“That moment she was mine, mine, fair, . Perfectly pure and good: I found . A thing to do, and all her hair . In one long yellow string I wound . Three times her little throat around”
This to is a strange use of language as it slowly tells you what is happening in such a way you don’t even realise until he has done it. However what I find that adds to the imagery of this is the transition between the characters they seem to change, become the others status. The man becomes in control as if trying to preserve what they had. Repetition Mine, Mine he seems to assure himself that she wanted to be his and his alone, and if he couldn’t have her that no-one was going to be able to. Although I think it was Porphyria’s wish to stay with her lover I do not believe she wanted to in death, but to be surrounded by the love which he can/will only give her when she is his and his alone. When he chokes Porphyria he captures her independence and kills it. He then takes control and starts to play with her long yellow hair which she had originally spread all over him, he is doing just what Porphyria was before he killed her. This makes me think he may be in control and only killed her, even though he enjoyed her being seductive because he wanted to be the one to control her. I may have this all wrong he might have truly thought he was doing his lover a favour so they could be together but as I stated earlier I really don’t think she wanted to be together in death.
The last 2 verses so to speak, change not only tense but house his slight guilt for killing her. The tense changes from past to present lines 51-61
“Her head, which droops upon it still: ………… …………… And yet God has not said a word!”
The first verse he is taking about her in a tender and loving way which he didn’t do when she was alive maybe because she wasn’t fully his and he couldn’t open up when she was unable to give herself to him solely. The last verse is strange as he try’s to justify himself yet earlier on he was quite happy with what he had done. It’s as if he feels guilty yet waiting for something to happen as God has not punished him YET, the word yet being added shows he knows he has murdered someone with out reason and knows it is bad. He is waiting for god to speak and punish him. He is letting god punish, maybe kill him so he could be with his lover, as he may have been unable to take his own life so they could be together. I think this may be the case as he is trying hard to find ways to justify his actions.
In conclusion to my essay I have discussed Porphyria’s lover and believe in some ways I have shown how Robert Browning develops the theme of disruption. I think that the first few lines do relate very much to the feelings of the male character and that this sets the stage for the rest of the poem, as it gives tone to the story and slightly explains the outline of the poem. Also I think this poem maybe a reflection on the period more than anything else as it was a time of repression against women, which adds more depth to the poets theme of the poem which you could ask the question why write a poem that touches on such a strong note unless you cared about the issues surrounding it. So to conclude this essay, the poem is full of disruption from the storm outside, the stage of seduction and finally the murder but it’s not all clear to the eye unless you understand the time in which it was written and the person who wrote it.
