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Porphyria’s lover by Robert Browning
Overview:
● This poem, told in the form of a dramatic monologue, introduces a powerful
male voice
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This angers the speaker, whose name is never revealed,
until he realises that Porphyria worships him (in reality she is trying to stop
him from sulking and get him to have sexual intercourse with her) and he can
get her to do anything he wants
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Structure/Form:
● Written as one long monologue - no stanzas
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● Lots of enjambment also mimics speech and helps the poem to flow
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This is also unusual because Victorians like everything to be
ordered and “neat” - breaks poetic conventions of the time
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One of its symptoms is mental disturbances
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Context:
● The affair between Porphyria and her lover would have been forbidden in the
Victorian times
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● The poem implies that Porphyria has been at a party or feast, which were
commonly laid on by richer families to help their daughters find a suitor
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This was common amongst high
status men but unheard of amongst women - this highlights Porphyria's
strangeness
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This would’ve been
quite shocking in the Victorian times, as well as portraying Porphyria’s risktaking, unconventional attitude
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Language analysis:

● Pathetic fallacy is used at the beginning of the poem to reflect the speaker’s
own depressed emotions
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Words like “sullen” also portray the speaker as the
victim here, which is deeply ironic
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This also shows
how graceful and well-mannered she is, making it all the more unusual that
she should engage in an illicit relationship
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● There are repeated references to Porphyria kneeling (she “kneeled” and
“stooped”), which suggests that her and her lover are from entirely different
backgrounds and social circles and that she is stooping to his level
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This is because wrists were viewed as highly erotic and sexualised in
the Victorian era
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● The phrase “smooth white shoulder bare” also shows how Porphyria is trying
to seduce her lover and that she’s pretty shameless! Fairness was seen as a
desirable quality for women to have, whilst “white” conjures images of
innocence
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● The phrase “give herself to me forever” is very possessive due to the use of
first person pronouns
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This is the first
hint that the speaker deeply objectifies Porphyria, but also reinforces the
context of marriage in the Victorian era
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● Repetition of “mine” shows how he wants to capture the moment that
Porphyria worships him - elation
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● The phrase “one long yellow string” is very prosaic and the assonance of the
“o” sounds draws out the murder, making it seem even more creepy to the
reader
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The alliteration of “b” here also makes the speaker sound
violent due to the “spat out” plosive sounds
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● “The smiling rosy little head” - ironic as there is no blood in her cheeks, he is
imagining things
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This

makes the speaker seem insane - particularly as he is cradling a dead body
which has probably started to decay

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