Similarities And Differences Between My Last Duchess And Porrphyria's Lover

Both poems have similar themes and both speakers describe a particular character found in both stories. Both poems have a beautiful woman as its main character and their themes describe the relationship between two lovers. In "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover," Robert Browning conveys two distinct portraits depicting the love shared between two people. The qualities of beauty, selfishness, and jealousy appear in both poems. In both works, the author explores the hidden influence death has upon the relationship shared by two lovers.

Like prostitutes, the women in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” also violate traditional gender roles. For that reason, the men take it upon themselves to bring the power relation back to that of convention, where men are bearers of power and have control in relationships. The means by which this power reversion is accomplished, however, are subject to examination.

the personality of his duchess, he is shown to be a heartless, arrogant man. His complete

none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)' He acts like

Robert Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” is a perfect representation of the status of women during the Victorian Era; women were treated as objects not people. They were property of men, not individuals. In this poem, the speaker, Porphyria’s lover, murders Porphyria and does not only think it was okay to do so, but he also thinks what he has done is noble. In the lines shown above, the speaker begins to realize that Porphyria loves him. Not only does she love him, but she “worships” him. This further pushes the idea that, because he is a man and she a women, he is so superior to her that he is a god. It is not actually her love that he wants, it is the power that he gets from earning her love and making her his subject. His heart does not swell because of the joy in discovering that she loves him; it swells because of this sense of pride he now feels. In the next line, he debates what to do to preserve her “love” forever. In line 36, the speaker comments on how, in that moment, Porphyria was pure and innocent, as Victorian women should be, and suddenly thinks of how to keep her that way. The speaker wants to hold on to the image of her like this forever; so he decides to kill her. The narrator then strangles Porphyria. When describing the act of strangling her, the narrator describes her throat as “little.” Here he is once again showing his dominance over her. However, the most important thing is that he uses her hair, of all things, to strangle her. At the time, hair was a

“I found a thing to do, and all her hair in one long yellow string wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her.” (line 37) A beautiful young woman is killed in the woods by a man she had been seeing secretly. The killer is quite sure that there is nothing wrong with what he did. This is the scenario that Robert Browning has built for his readers. How can these crazy things be understood? What are we supposed to learn about the killer in this poem, and how does Browning show us these things? In the poem “Porphyria’s Lover,” Robert Browning uses careful diction and contrast to show that The Speaker in the poem yearns for control over his life.

This leads us to believe that Porphyria has hurt him during their last meeting and makes us curious to know what Porphyria did to deserve his detestation. Yet still she pursues him, she becomes sensual and embraces him “

look at but he feels as if the Duchess takes him for granted and she

The poetry of Ovid exemplified in The Art of Love is one of the only examples of the contemporary social behavior exhibited during the time of Rome. Ovid writes about social activities, proper style, women, and how to obtain them. Through Ovid’s perspective, there are three different ways to consider a woman. These three views include relating a woman to a game, a beautiful treasure, and as a means to assert social status. Comparatively, Andreas Capellanus writes in a way that makes women seem respected, worthy and as something to a man would willingly devote his life to. Both men have a clear fascination with women and their relationship to men. However, their distinct writing styles cause

Further on, in Book Six of “Metamorphoses”, Ovid introduces readers to the characters of Tereus and his wife, Procne. Tereus, at his wife’s request, brings her sister, Philomela, for a visit. However, he becomes so captivated by Philomela that he imprisons, rapes, and mutilates her. In order to avenge Tereus, Procne along with Philomela, trick Tereus into consuming the flesh of his own son. The story of Tereus, Procne and Philomela exists as one of absolute extremes.

In each of the poems, both Medusa and the Duke of Ferrara represent the fickleness of power and how it fluctuates in daily life. Duffy’s manipulation of a paradox within ‘Medusa’ displays the extent to which power plays a part in the Greek myth of Medusa. The extended metaphor of Medusa with “filthy snakes” that “hissed and

The two Robert Browning poems, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ were written in the infamous Victorian Era whereas the two Shakespearean Sonnets were written in the Elizabethan Era. The styles of the poems differ in accordance to the difference of the time in which they were written. Pre-Romantic Era poems moved away from the idealistic concept of love towards a more realistic consideration of it, taking into account the social

Robert Browning’s poems “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” depict a mastery of the dramatic monologue style. Said style contains a narrative told by a character’s point of view that differs from that of the poet.The character’s monologue consists of them discussing their particular situation that they find themselves within, this is meant to convey their internal information to the reader or audience. This in turn allows the reader a glimpse into the personality of the narrating character. Within “Porphyria’s Lover” and My Last Duchess” these monologues are used along with poetic devices to develop unique male personas. Between these two personas there are evident differences in class and within each class social issues arise within each work.

The title ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ may indicate to the reader the idea that the lover would be the only active article in the poem, especially if it was written by a male during those times. However, at the beginning of the poem Porphyria is immediately given the active role, she’s the one who “glided in” wanting to visit him “for love of her…/ through wind and rain”, she also “shut the out cold and storm”. This gives Porphyria a masculine physical ability as she has the power to “shut…out” something as sinewy as a storm, which goes against the female stereotype.

A Comparison of the Dramatic Monologues of Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning