Robert Browning

Robert Browning was not quite what I was expecting. He differentiated himself from the other authors we have read because he added unexpected twists into his works. It was very hard to guess what was going to happen because just when you thought you had it figured out, something would change and the story would take an entirely new direction. I saw this pattern was especially relevant in "Porphyria's Lover". Porphyria's Lover begins as a love story and takes a turn for the worse as it ends in a murder.

The poem begins with a rainy, somber day which in hindsight is not typical of most love stories. It states, "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:"(1-4). There was a horrible storm that damaged the lake and the surrounding trees. This storm clearly must have been violent to cause so much damage, and this is not how most love stories begin. Normally there is some type of serene setting that gets the reader in the mood for the story...this storm does set the tone for the rest of the poem, but it is just not the tone that the reader is expecting to find.

The poem goes on the discuss Porphyria's entrance to the house. I thought this entrance was a little strange. It almost seemed as if he was mad at her for something and she had to make him acknowledge her. Browning writes, "And, last, she sat down by my side/ And called me. When no voice replied/ She put my arm about her waist, /And made her smooth white shoulder bare,/ And all her yellow hair displaced,/ And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,"(14-19). I do not think that this is a typical description of how someone would act when their lover returned home. He essentially ignored her and she "made"(as it states in line 19) him acknowledge her. When in love, one does not usually say that the other person made them do something involving affection.

I think as the poem goes on, the reader begins to see that Porphyria is madly in love with the narrator, but he may not feel as strongly about her. Lines 33 through 35 state, "Porphyra worshiped me; surprise/ Made my heart swell, and still it grew/ While I debated what to do.". He realized how important he was to her, and I think he was flattered to be in that position, but he did not know how to react. Later he states,"In one long yellow string I wound/ Three times her little throat around,/ And strangled her."(39-41). The narrator found a solution to his problem. He decided to kill her which seems very far fetched, but I think that he was so caught up in the moment that he wanted to keep it forever. He never wanted to lose that moment with her, so he killed her and laid with her the remainder of the night. He rationalizes his decision which is made clear in lines 41 and 42 when he says, "No pain felt she;/I am quite sure she felt no pain.". I think this shows that he did care for her because he did not want her to suffer, but he wanted to preserve that moment in time and this was the only way he found possible.

Another thing that I thought about (which could be completely of base) was that he did love her, but that he could not remain faithful to her. In lines 25 to 27 Browning writes, "And give herself to me for ever./ But passion sometimes would prevail, /Nor could to-night's gay feast restrain". To me these lines could be showing that Porphyria was crazy about the narrator and promised herself to him, but his passion would not always allow him to be faithful. He could have felt guilty about not staying faithful which made him feel sorry for her. He killed her so that she could stay in that moment forever. I don't know if this is at all accurate, but it is just something that crossed my mind as I was reading it.