Porphyria's Lover

When analyzing literature, critics can pull differing ideas about a piece and its various elements, even when they are analyzing the same work. Lemony Snicket once said that, “Even though there are no ways of knowing for sure, there are ways of knowing for pretty sure” (“Quotes About Knowing”); this idea brings up a certain dilemma: no matter how much a person analyzes an author’s work, he or she may never know exactly what the author intended. The most a person can do is use the clues the author leaves behind to make inferences, even if those inferences are different from the inferences of others. Robert Browning used the structure and language of his poem “Porphyria’s Lover” to express the hidden depths of the speaker’s mind while still leaving
“Porphyria’s Lover” is an example of dramatic monologue. In this type of writing, a story is told from the point of view of a dramatic character, typically when that character is reflecting on a previous action. This style makes it so that the reader’s experience is limited to the speaker’s observations and feelings. In this case, the speaker is a man who is reflecting on the night he killed his lover, Porphyria (Bender 338). While this sounds like the action of a person who is not in his or her right mind, Robert Browning contrasts the traditional idea of madness throughout the poem (Kukathas 159). Rather than writing the poem in a disorganized manner ,which would give a clear clue to madness, this poem is highly organized and does not deviate from its steady “ababb” rhyme pattern (Bender 338). In addition, this poem is divided into three distinct sections that allow the reader to witness the changes in the speaker’s state of mind as the poem progresses (Kukathas
Here, the section starts with the speaker showing himself to be completely absorbed in his own world. He suddenly calls Porphyria “mine, mine, fair, / Perfectly pure and good” (Pechman). In this case, the speaker seems to be trying to make himself more dominant and is taking possession of Porphyria (Hacht 153). This attempt to dominate continues until he takes “one long yellow string” (Pechman) of her hair and strangles her. He later completes his role reversal by laying her head on his shoulder (Pechman). This action, which mirrors Porphyria’s earlier one, puts the speaker in a definite position of power. At the same time, this unexpected action definitely shows that the speaker is not as normal as he appears to be and is instead blinded by his desire to control his lover. It is important to note that even when this action has occurred, the rhyme scheme remains the same steady “ababb” and the speaker continues to speak in simple and common terms. While the actions and motives of the speaker seem extreme or even insane, the lack of variation in speech can lead one to wonder exactly how well the speaker is grasping the situation (Kukathas 161). The description of the speaker’s feelings rather than the physical world at the very beginning of this section could mean that this occurrence has only been imagined. On the other hand, the vivid yet simple descriptions of the setting in the