"Porphyria's Lover" is an exhilarating love story given from a lunatic's point of view.
It is the story of a man who is so obsessed with Porphyria that he decides to keep her
for himself. The only way he feels he can keep her, though, is by killing her. Robert
Browning's poem depicts the separation of social classes and describes the "triumph" of
one man over an unjust society. As is often the case in fiction, the speaker of
"Porphyria's Lover" does not give accurate information in the story.
The speaker is a deranged man who will stop at nothing to keep his dear Porphyria.
Although the introduction refers to the weather, it also does an effective job in
describing the speaker. In this case, it is nighttime, and the thunder is roaring. The
speaker starts by saying: "The rain set early in tonight,/The sullen wind was soon
awake,/ It tore the elm-tops down for spite,/ And did its worst to vex the lake(Barnet
567):" This description gives the reader the first glimpse of what is yet to come.
These turbulent words help give the poem a gloomy feeling.
When Porphyria arrives at the speaker's cottage, she is dripping wet. The speaker makes
it an important point to describe her after her arrival. The description of the articles
of clothing that Porphyria is wearing helps the reader know that Porphyria is from an
upper-class family. She was wearing a cloak and shawl, a hat, and gloves. It is
apparent that the speaker works for Porphyria's family. He lives in a cottage, somewhat
distant from the main house. The cottage is cold until Porphyria warms up the room with
her presence and by stirring up the fire. The way the speaker introduces Porphyria is
very unique. He states that Porphyria "glided" into the room. With this description,
the lover insinuates to the reader that the he sees Porphyria as some kind of angel who
moves swiftly and gracefully across the floor.
The speaker is upset about the party going on in the main house. Porphyria will be
married soon, and he feels that if he were an upper-class citizen, Porphyria would be
able to marry him. There is definitely much love felt between the two, and the speaker
realizes that he will lose Porphyria if he does not do something. There is a sense of
desperation felt by the speaker. He also feels that society's rules are very unjust and
cruel. At the same time, though, it seems that the lover does not blame Porphyria for
what is unfolding, but nonetheless, the speaker acts in a cold manner towards her. She,
trying to cheer him up, puts his arm around her waist. During all this time, Porphyria
seems to be happy but not necessarily about seeing her lover. The speaker says: "Happy
and proud; at last I knew/ Porphyria worshipped me;" Unbeknownst to the speaker, she
could have been excited about the party. This also comes to show that the speaker was
out of touch with reality.
During the first part of the poem, Porphyria's lover is leaning against her shoulder.
He is completely dependent upon her. This is where the lover shows that he is acting in
a very cold manner, but he is actually trying to make the reader feel sorry for him.
Shortly afterwards, he starts explaining the problem, and states his side of the story.
The speaker begins to feel sorry for himself, and his frustration and fears begin to
mount into an expected act of violence towards Porphyria.
The only thing that Porphyria's lover can think of is to strangle her with her own hair.
By doing this, he believes that she will be his forever. The speaker also sees this as
the next best thing to marriage. He is completely out of his mind, and thinks that she
does not feel any pain when he strangles her. Robert Browning does an excellent job in
emphasizing that Porphyria's lover is not sure if, in fact, Porphyria feels no pain. The
speaker states: "No pain felt she;/ I am quite sure she felt no pain(Barnet 568)." By
strangling Porphyria, the speaker believes that they will be together, and that
everything will be better in the near future. It seems the speaker "witnesses the
woman's apparently wholehearted love-(and) is also the moment that he attempts to
preserve by killing her (Maxwell 28)." Of course, this theory could not be further from
the truth, and this shows the reader that there is something wrong with the lover's state
of mind.
Towards the end of the poem, it is Porphyria's corpse that is leaning on his shoulder.
Her lifeless body is supported by her lover. From this point on, the speaker's insanity
becomes more evident. The statements that the speaker makes are by no means believable.
He is therefore consciously lying, or unaware of reality. The lover makes several
statements about Porphyria expressing happiness after she was brutally strangled. The
speaker states: "again/ Laughed the blue eyes without a stain." There is no way that a
lifeless body could possibly show any signs of life, especially in the eyes. Another
example where the speaker is not trustworthy is where he states: "her cheek once more/
Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:" There is no possible way that a corpse can have
blushed bright cheeks. Porphyria's body was definitely pale.
Porphyria's lover is so much in love that he cannot think straight. His words let us
know there is something wrong with him. By saying, "And all night long we have not
stirred,/ And yet God has not said a word!" he is not only saying that what he did is
right; he clearly believes that God approves of his actions. Browning wrote about a
religious belief in "Porphyria's Lover." John Agricola was the founder of the Antinomian
heresy. His belief is that "a Christian under the new dispensation was absolved of
responsibility which prevailed under the Mosaic law and hence could not be guilty of sin,
however heinous his acts might be. . . . In the Monthly Repository Browning prefaced the
poem with an explanatory note:
Antinomians, so denominated for rejecting the Law as a
thing of no use under the Gospel dispensation: they say, that
good works do not further, nor evil works hinder salvation; that
the child of God cannot sin, that God never chastiseth him, that
murder, drunkenness, etc. are sins in the wicked but not in him,
that the child of grace being once assured of salvation, afterwards
never doubteth . . . that God doth not love any man for his
holiness, that sanctification is no evidence of justification, etc.
Potanus, in his Catalogue of Heresies, says John Agricola was
the author of this sect, A.D. 1535.- Dictionary of all Religions,
1704. (Crowell 186)."
This statement was printed in order to avoid possible controversy that could surround the
poem's nature. What it translates to is that Porphyria's lover was not responsible for
his crime if, in fact, he was a Christian. Brown probably used this poem as a criticism
of this point of view.
"Porphyria's Lover" builds up to a startling and spine chilling conclusion. "In the
last line ('And yet God has not said a word!'), Browning builds a finely poised ambiguity
which captures both the speaker's confidence in the objectivity (he states only what has
happened: God has indeed not spoken) and his growing uncertainty provides neither speaker
nor reader with an external judge, leaving only the speaker's reconstruction of events:
the imposition of his solipsistic consciousness on the world (Slinn 12)."
Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" sets a standard for other poets to follow. The point of
view is very dramatic and dynamic. This poem is very effective in expressing to people
one thing, and letting the reader know the reality of it all. Although his name is never
mentioned, the lover is a unique and memorable character.
Works Cited
Barnet, Sylvan. Literature for Composition, Third edition. Harper Collins Publishers.
New York, New York. 1992. pp567-568.
Slinn, E. Warwick. Browning and the Fictions of Identity. Barnes & Noble Books.
Totowa, New Jersey. 1982.
Maxwell, Catherine. "Browning's Porphyria's Lover." The Explicator, Fall 1993, v52,
n1, pp27(4).
|