Explore the images and concepts generated in 'Porphyria's Lover'

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Explore the images and concepts generated in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’

  • Brief summary of each section
  • Detailed analysis of pictures of Porphyria
  • Detailed analysis of pictures of the lover
  • Detailed analysis of symbolic significance

‘Porphyria’s Lover’, written in the 19th Century and Robert Browning’s very first dramatic monologue, is told by a madman in the process of murdering his lover by strangling her with her own hair, which he does so that she can be his forever and will be in an eternal state of love.

      The first five lines of the poem set a gloomy and scary scene; this evokes an angry and spiteful atmosphere. With a raging storm going on, it whips the lake and we gather that this is a monologue, with the use of “I” and being told from first person. In the second stage of the poem we are introduced to Porphyria and the caring and warm atmosphere she brings with her, there is a romantic mood within the cottage where most of the poem is set. From the third part we get an insight into Porphyria’s character and her provocative nature, we see how the lover seeks attention from Porphyria and lets her control him. The passionate atmosphere and the mood in the fourth stage of the poem contrasts on the lover’s disappointed words, still in the cottage the lover describes what he is thinking. Moving on the poem starts to become more interesting, section 5 allows us to see that the lover realises Porphyria really loves him and has no doubts. We also see he is thinking on what action to take, which leads us on to the next part. Possibly the most shocking parts of the poem, the sixth part sees the lover kill Porphyria with her own hair, to preserve her love for him so it will last forever. Near to the end of the poem, the mood within the final stages is that of obsessive. The lover props Porphyria up with her head upon his shoulder and releases her hair from around her neck. The last 6 lines reveal the lovers intentions of killing Porphyria, to which he says that he has gained Porphyria’s love forever and preserved it as his.

There are many pictures that are created of Porphyria within the poem, one is that of she is seen as a shelter, she shuts out the cold and brings warmth with her:

      “She shut the cold out and the storm”

      Porphyria shuts out the cold and the storm when she enters the cottage; she can be seen as a shelter that secludes unhappiness and keeps it out.

      The use of the word “cold” emphasises the warmth that Porphyria brings with her and how she shuts it out when she enters, this not only emphasises the previous fact but it also shows us that the lover is warmed by Porphyria and that maybe he even depends on her and she protects him from the coldness.

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      Porphyria also seems to have a certain amount of control over her lover; she moves the lover around and seems to dominate him:

      “…made my cheek lie there / and spread o’er all her yellow hair”

      We see that she can make her lover do things by making his cheek lie on her shoulder; it seems that she dominates the lover and can make him do anything she wants.

      By using the word “spread” it makes it seem that Porphyria can easily and smoothly just make his cheek ...

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