Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess

(A discussion of the treatment of women in the Victorian era as critiqued by Robert Browning in his poems, My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover)

Furthermore, Porphyria’s sexuality represents a fear and danger for him. Since the beginning of humanity, men have not just dreaded ladies' sexuality; they have, additionally, to a shocking degree, measured their power in terms of how successfully they could restrain the privileges and rights of women on an assortment of fronts. Porphyria’s lover was not able to control her, that’s why the feeling of incompetence started flourishing on him.

In several countries tyrants abuse their power for their own benefit. Many people must obey these cruel rulers or be punished if they disobey. People must live in fear because of these tyrants, who use their power for their own satisfaction. In “My Last Duchess” the Duke of Ferrara uses his power to control his subjects, and kills his wife because of the way she acts around other men. From beginning to end “My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning displays the corrupt power of the domestic tyrant, his arrogance, jealousy, and the ruthlessness.

Throughout history, gender roles have been an important barrier in society. Women are forced to satisfy expectations established by men and society. “My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, focuses on the powerful Duke establishing certain expectations of the Duchess, and attempting to control her. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, concentrates on Laertes establishing certain expectations of Ophelia, and seeking to control her. A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf, centers on societal expectations of Judith, and her father trying to control her. In all three texts, men have the ability to control women and have the freedom to do as they please. Women must conform to the expectations of faithfulness, attentiveness, and chastity.

Formidable women have always found a way to be a force in their world, and to subvert the cliche. William Shakespeare’s plays often put emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the male protagonists. From the impact that Ophelia’s insanity had on Hamlet, to the traumatic result of Romeo’s love for Juliet, or the horrid behavior of Macbeth under Lady Macbeth’s influence, the women play an important role.

one else can have her. He positions her as she was before only now he

A feminine voice can sometimes get lost within a dramatic monologue that is being read through the male speaker. This is something that happens in Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue “Porphyria’s Lover”. A poem in which a man strangles the woman he loves after she’s come to visit him one stormy night. I’ve analyzed two critics, Christine Maxwell and Christine Ross. Maxwell believes that the speaker of the poem has taken on the personality of Othello, in the drama Othello. Similar in the way that Othello kills Desdemona through suffocation. Maxwell argues that Browning has projected this kind of insanity into the speaker of the poem. As for Ross, who argues the speaker didn’t kill Porphyria, if not, they were simply exploring sexual desires. Through female sexual agency and erotic asphyxiation, Browning is demonstrating the speaker relinquishes Porphyria from social structures.

It was the spring of 1812 when Robert Browning was brought into the world. He was born in the small town of Camberwell, London, England. His father, a highly educated man, had a very distinguished library which Browning was influenced greatly by, especially by his father’s collection of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s works (Horneker). Browning is accredited with being the mastermind behind the sect of poetry known as dramatic monologue. Dramatic monologues can be defined as, “a poem written in the form of a speech of an individual character, it compresses into a single vivid scene a narrative sense of the speaker’s history and psychological insight into his character” (Dramatic Monologue). Browning’s two most famous of these poems are “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My last Duchess”.

higher class than him socially and in heritage and he is not In a high

The Victorian era was characterized by a strict patriarchal society that imposed oppressive ways of life and moral codes on its women. Because women were considered to have belonged primarily in the domestic realm, the traditional and ideal Victorian woman was the passive, pure, and virtuous “angel in the house.” Women were expected to maintain their virginity until marriage, and expressions of female sexuality or promiscuity were of moral outrage and came with serious consequences. Accordingly, Robert Browning uses this idea of female sexuality and its costs in several of his dramatic monologues. Close readings of Browning’s poems “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” reveal how female subjects are victimized by their male counterparts

One particularly important theme that has been frequently discussed throughout this semester is the theme of the image of women. Women have played a huge role in many of the works of literature that were explored this semester. From the description of a woman being strangled to death by her own hair in Robert Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover, to a dead woman believing her loved ones were visiting her grave in Thomas Hardy’s Ah, Are you Digging on my Grave? Women have also played a huge role in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill. This essay will discuss how women are portrayed in these two works of literature and will then compare and contrast the way the image of women is represented in these

This poem is similar to the other, in many different ways. For example, both have main male characters that seem to be mentally disturbed. In addition, both of the men have relationships with strong women who, despite apparently loving them, they each end up killing. I think that there is an important observation that one should make after learning what both of these poems are about. First, of all, never date a man like Robert Browning, he seems to be quite misunderstood and scary. I mean he essentially wrote to works of literature about killing and objectifying women. Like the other poem, “My Last Duchess” initially focuses on the idea that the women have the power and not the men. This then leads to the men feeling threatened , so the way that they choose to take this power is to kill the women themselves. Murder is essentially the tool used to switch the power from the women to the men. An important observation of the main female character in this particular poem is that the craziness of the main character is a bit more subtle. What do I mean by this? I simply mean that although the Duke is also very suspicious and commits murder, his tone and the way that he describes his situation is the most interesting predictor of his lunacy. The way that he unintentionally reveals himself to both the reader and the marriage broker, his use of modesty, and the way that he contradicts himself is very strange. In conclusion, this poem focuses differently on the male character description than in “Porphyria’s

good, I found a thing to do, and all her hair in one long yellow

If we look at the two males of the poems, it is clear both yearn for a

Often times humans need to have superiority in their lives in order to maintain calmness. People refer to their superiority as the power they have other another person, which brings stereotypes into our society. Men, women, children, beauty, sexuality all can play a role into why one may think why they have the power over others. In Shakespeare's Othello, power is heavily examined through multiple characters and relationships. As well as Much Ado About Nothing illuminates the power and superiority of characters. Furthermore, Say Yes, by Tobias Wolff, and My Last Duchess, by Robert Browning, relate in which they illuminate the power and stereotypes of societies. In relation, all four texts illustrates the power in certain roles and characters, which can relate to conflict. Overall, posing the question of gender roles and how they are perceived in each of the four texts.