The other main contrast is that in “My Last Duchess” the Duke wanted his wife to respect him and love him but she was like that to other men, so he killed her, it is quoted, “She thanked men, - good! But thanked Somehow - I know not how - as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift.” In “Porphyria’s lover” the lover kills Porphria to stop him from being lonely, which was ironic because Porphyria was the only one that stopped the lover from being lonely and he killed her.
In “My Last Duchess” the Duke does not seem to show any care or understanding for his wife, he seems to be more of a “woman collector” in the way that he collects art, the reason he marries women is for the dowry, when the dowry is spent, he kills the women, adds her to his “Art collection” then moves on to another woman. This is shown when the Duke sets his sights on the daughter of the Count, he says, “Of mine for dowry will be disallowed; Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed At starting, is my object.” The word “object” shows that the Duke wants to add this woman to his collection like a piece of art. The Duke also finds it difficult to understand his wife, he says in the poem, “She had a heart - how shall I say? - too soon made glad,” this shows that the Duke finds it difficult to understand his wife, he says that she is too easily impressed and that she liked whatever she set her eyes on. The Duke also reveals to the reader that he never discussed his jealousy or feelings with his wife, the duke quotes, “and I choose never to stoop.” This line also shows that the Duke was an arrogant and bigheaded person.
“Porphyria’s Lover” is written in a similar type of way in which “My Last Duchess” is written, they are both written the male lovers point of view. The mood at the beginning of “Porphyria’s Lover” is miserable, Browning links the lover’s emotions with the weather and uses “cold” colours like blue and grey, it is Quoted, ““The rain set early in to-night, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake” As soon as Porphria enters the room, the mood changes, Browning uses “warm” colours like orange and yellow, the lover says, “I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm.” Once Porphyria is there, the lover wants the moment to last forever. He doesn’t want Porphyria to leave him, and in this way he is similar to the Duke, as he wants her all for himself.
Both of the women in the poems are similar as well, but they aren’t really typical “19th Century women” because they both flirt a lot, which was quite unordinary in the 19th century. In “Porphyria’s Lover” Porphyria is very revealing and is not scared too show off her body, it is quoted, “She put my arm around her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare And all her yellow hair displaced” and in “My Last Duchess” the duke says “She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” The lover’s mood changes during the middle of the poem. He wants to save the perfect, passionate moment for ever, and realises that the only way to do this is to kill her and keep her away from another man, the lover says, “Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavour, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me forever” Browning’s use of the word “worshipped” in the poem is very important, as it explains to the reader that the lover wants the respect and worship from Porphyria, in a similar manner to the way the Duke in “My Last Duchess” wants her respect above everything else. At the end of “Porphyria’s lover”, the lover tries to loose guilt by saying, “And all night long we have not stirred, and yet God has not said a word”, In fact, he has achieved his aim in preserving the moment, this also similar to “My Last Duchess” the Duke feels no guilt in ordering the killing of his wife.
In both poems it’s the male lovers that are making the decisive moves, and the women don’t get a say in anything, in “Porphyria’s Lover” the lover says, “I debated what to do” and in “My Last Duchess” the Duke says, “I gave commands.” The women in their lives get no say as to what happens with their own lives.
There are many others contrasts in both poem, like tense, “My Last Duchess” is written in the present tense, but “Porphria’s Lover” is written in the past tense apart from the last two lines. “My Last Duchess” is also more descriptive and has longer sentences than “Porphyria’s Lover. There is diction of love in both poems, Browning uses diction like heart, loved, passion, darling, happy, perfectly pure and my heart in “Porphyria’s Lover” and diction like wonder, passion, joy, heart, breast and half-flush in “My Last Duchess” Browning uses more of authoritive diction more than love diction in “My Last Duchess” Browning uses diction like durst, officious, ranked, approving, speech, masters, disallowed and object. Both poems aren’t really shocking to the modern because in the 21st century things like these happen, but in the 19th century, the poems would have been quite shocking to the reader.
Overall there are many comparisons and contrasts in both poems, both poems are insights about two possessive lovers, who kill their partners to possess them. The main contrast is the way the partners die, one get killed by their lover, and the other get killed through orders from her lover.