How do the poems Porphyrias Lover and The Sisters present the theme of madness.

Authors Avatar

How do the poems ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘The Sisters’ present the theme of madness.

 

 

‘Porphyria’s Lover’ was first released in 1834 and is one of Brownings most popular dramatic monologues. The speaker of the poem recounts the killing of his illegitimate lover Porphyria, by strangling her with her own hair so that she can be his forever. ‘The Sisters’ by Lord Alfred Tennyson published in 1881, similarly shares the themes of madness, love and obsession that are subtly presented in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’.

 

This essay will explore how ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘The Sisters’ present the theme of madness and how it is portrayed by both poets. Both poems were written in the 19th Century Victorian times. ‘The Sisters’ explores the ideas the Victorian Society had about the concept of tainted love and violence. During those times extra-marital affairs were fairly uncommon and as Victorian England was led by Christian Values, it was something that was frowned upon and was considered blasphemous. Victorian Society was obsessed with stories about spinsters, adultery and did their best to look as morally correct as possible. Women adulterers were to suffer a severe punishment, most lost their children and were disowned from their families. A novel that is a perfect example of this is the ‘Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  

 

The Victorian era was a time bound by Social Conventions; female adulterers were shunned by society and treated like pariahs, whereas male adulterers were not in fear of getting this treatment. There were many double standards set between men and women in that era, some of these remain even now. Women were regarded as inferior to Men and considered housebound, and had less rights than Men did. Victorian era was patriarchal, and what the man said was law.  Browning, however, seems to undermine the concept of this in the poem, by making Porphyria the domineering and the main character.

 

The name Porphyria is another point that bears a remarkable revelation.   By a contemporary reader it can be interpreted as a neurological illness which can cause acute mania, hallucinations, anxiety and other mental complications. This knowledge in itself would make the contemporary reader assume that the name Porphyria and the illness are inter-related and that the name of Porphyria was chosen purely because of this. In addition, the reader would assume that the behaviour of the speaker is in fact, caused by this illness, meaning that the thing that is destroying him and contributing to his madness is Porphyria, his lover and the illness itself.   A reader in the 19th Century, on the other hand, would believe that Porphyria translates as a precious stone, of a purple colour that has a cold surface and a smooth texture. Porphyria stones were known to be very exorbitant and only people of high status were able to afford them. This is a reference to Porphyria herself, who is believed to be from the Upper-Class Society and very beautiful, just as the Stone, and likewise ends up cold and dead, like a stone.

 

Browning uses many different poetic devices to portray madness in the poem, one such device is pathetic fallacy.  It is used at the beginning of the poem, and is useful as a metaphor describing the speaker’s mood, the quote, ‘…the sullen wind was soon awake, it tore the elm tops down for spite, and its worst to vex the lake.’ reflects on his dark and volatile mood. The Lovers unstable frame of mind and the fact that he appears to be such a depressed and erratic character further reinforces the theme of madness.

Join now!

 

The placid manner in which the lover recalls the story, seemingly trying to vindicate his actions suggests a sense of underlying madness and an unhealthy fixation on Porphyria. There are many references of Porphyria’s hair in the poem, her weapon of seduction and manipulation that she often used, ‘…and spread, o’er all, her yellow hair’. Ironically, her hair is ultimately the weapon the lover kills her with. The lover murders Porphyria with her own hair, '...and all her hair in one long string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her.'

 

The lover tries to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay