Porphyria's Lover

BP: obsession, male power

kiss (obsession)

blushed brightly beneath my burning kiss

• plosive alliteration could convey his violence and passion

• ‘burning’ connotes pain and violence and so juxtaposes ‘kiss’, however burning could also display the intensity of his passion

• verb ‘blushed’ is often associated with love, and so reinforces that in his mind he’s not doing her any harm as she’s still showing affection towards him as she did before

white (obsession)

smooth white shoulder bare

• ‘smooth white’ connotes angelic and purity which highlights her innocence and vulnerability. It creates an image of marble statues and so portrays her as an object of beauty

• the act of her shoulder being bare and exposing it helps portray the characters sexual desire for her, he constantly objectifies her fixating on her body and appearance

worship (male power)

Porphyria worshipped me

• verb ‘worshipped’ has religious connotations, it helps demonstrate the power imbalance within their relationship, they’re not equals as he’s ‘superior’. Perhaps Browning uses this to displays the characters desire for power over Porphyria

• This realisation acts as a turning point in the poem, it’s where he decides to kill her, maybe he kills her to gain control and dominance over her and so the realisation that he already possess a small glimpse of power over her through her love for him might have been enough to trigger his violent/psychotic nature

this time (male power)

Only, this time my shoulder bore her head

• this contrasts to the beginning where Porphyria put his head on her shoulder. This change helps to mirror the change in the power dynamic

• This idea of having her head being on his shoulder and her leaning on him could present how she now depends on him, she’s looking up to him admiring and respecting him, which he clearly prefers more then when it was the other way round. He’s now gained control over her and taken away her power over him (emotionally)

God? (male power)

and yet God has not said a word!

• perhaps the speakers thought he’s tricked God and gotten away with God, this would be blasphemy and very shocking for contemporary readers

• perhaps the speakers thought he hasn’t done anything wrong and so there’s no reason for God say anything, domestic violence was very common in Victorian times

• perhaps the speakers been rejected by God after committing the sin of murder and so he no longer has a connection with him