Porpherya’s Lover

* A man is unable to cope with his emotions towards his lover so he strangles her
* He proceeds to spend all night aside the corpse and appears to be more in love with her when dead than when alive

Brief synopsis

* Chronological order of events
* Collective pronoun
* Strict ABABB rhyme scheme

Structure and form (3)

Lack of natural stanzas reflect passive unfurling of events which speaker sees as natural

The narrative is a stream of conciousness

Chronological order

There is only one instance where Browning uses the collective pronoun ‘we’

‘She’ ‘her’ displays intense disconnect between them

Collective pronoun

Natural form and mirroring speech contrasts to strict ABABB scheme- represents intentionality behind actions of speaker

Rhyme structure

* Objectification
* Religious imagery

Language (2)

‘Dripping cloak and shawl’- upon entering she is not described as herself, not seen as a living human

Objectification shifts from implicit to explicit after murder- ‘blue eyes without a stain’

Objectification

Although not main theme, speaker attempts to suppress religious guilt

‘Shut the cold out’- hubristic connotations foreshadow lack of religious morality

‘Porphyria worshipped me’ hurbristic reference highlighted by plosives

‘God has not said a word’ poem ends

Religious imagery

I think of thee/Farmer’s Bride

Comparison