Robert Browning

Robert Browning is very well known for his exploration of the psychology of people through his use of the dramatic monologue. Many of his pieces deal with individuals who possess seemingly uncommon morals and sometimes appear irrational, misguided, or even deranged. The various behaviours Browning's characters express serve to personify many common outlooks among his contemporaries as well as provide a framework within which he could express his opinions about Victorian ideals in an effective and thought provoking way.
One of his earlier pieces titled "Porphyria's Lover", deals with the manner in which women were treated by men during the Victorian era. There are many theories that attempt to explain what exactly is occurring in this piece. Some scholars have suggested that the speaker in the poem murders his lover in an attempt to preserve a perfect moment, or because they come from different classes and the speaker cannot bear to be apart from her. The strangling of Porphyria appears to be a dramatic representation of the metaphorical manner in which women were suffocated by their controlling and often abusive families. This work then serves as a comment on the gender relations of the Victorian era. Browning sheds light on the well accepted fact that men had been enthusiastically overruling women for such a length of time without a hint of reproach. The speaker in the poem coolly relates his story of incapacitating his lover with no indication that he feels remorseful or guilty as a result of this act. Whether Porphyria dies or not should not be the central focus of this poem. Browning intended to write this with ambiguity to show the fine line women trod between possessing a life and being malleable objects denied of agency and treated like children.
"Porphyria's Lover" is the expression of the collective patriarchal mindset common amongst the men of the Victorian era. Although there was movement toward gender equality this was still an extremely conservative