Comparing My Last Duchess 'And Porphyria's Lover'

1733 Words7 Pages
The theme of power is persistent throughout many of Robert Browning written work. Within “My Last Duchess,” Browning creates the speaker, a duke, who strives on the social and political power over his late duchess. The poem, a dramatic monologue, captures discussion regarding the duke expressing his desire over marrying the count’s daughter to one of the count’s emissaries. Within “Porphyria’s Lover,” browning creates a scene of power associated with physical and psychological power that each voice embodies. This dramatic monologue captures the speaker conversing with himself after demonstrating his power over, Porphyria, his lover. Both of these dramatic monologues associate power with many significant notions. For instance, the communication…show more content…
In each poem, social, psychological, and physical themes are associated power. Throughout “My Last Duchess,” the speaker announces his social importance in line 33 “My gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name.” The speaker uses his title for entitlement and to express the influence he has from his name. He also indicates his control within his social ring by calling his wife “My last duchess” (line 1) and in line 10, “The curtain I have drawn for you, but I,” as he pulls back the curtain to show his the painted portrait of his late wife. The speaker reveals his character of him bestowing himself as powerful and influential. “My Last Duchess” also shows psychological power. The speaker displays his jealousy for his late wife in line 24, “She looked on, and her looks went elsewhere” indicating that she seeks out other things for delights since it was not “Her husband’s present only, called that spot/Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek” (line 14 and 15). Also, when the speaker strongly implies that he kills his wife, it demonstrations the use of psychological…show more content…
Within lines 6 and 7 it states, “When glided in Porphyria; straight/She shut the cold out and the storm.” The quotation demonstrates her influence; for example, Porphyria glided into the building confidently, straight in the door shutting out all the chaos. As the poem carries on she begins to have influence on the social situation. Within lines 15 and 16, “When no voice replied/She put my arm about her waist,” it suggests this influence and control she expresses to him. However, the social power that the speaker represents within the poem is also significant. The speaker reveals this power in line 36, “That moment she was mine, mine, fair.” Within “Porphyria’s Lover,” Browning also presents the psychological power like “My Last Duchess.” For example, the speaker is contemplating the love that he and Porphyria share and how the love turns from her obtaining the power to shifting from his possessing it. The speaker gains this power from the moment he took “all her hail/In one long yellow string [he] wound/Three times her little throat around” (Line 38 to 40). Once he kills her, he shifts positioning her body against him like she when “she put [his] arm about her waist” (line 16] symbolizing a different type of power. In “Porphyria’s Lover,” physical power
Show More
Related

  • Comparing Poems 'My Last Duchess And' Porphyria's Lover

    1695 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Robert Browning’s poems “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover,” the male speakers kill their female lovers out of envy and paranoia. In “My Last Duchess,” the Duke reveals his inability to control his wife, the Duchess, because she has relationships with other men, and finds happiness in simple things. The narrator’s jealousy transforms into an envious anger, and the Duke murders his wife in order to finally control her. Similarly, in the poem “Porphyria’s Lover,” the speaker kills his female

    Read More

More about Comparing My Last Duchess 'And Porphyria's Lover'

Open Document