Compare And Contrast Porphyria's Lover And My Last Duchess

Love is commonly expressed through many forms of literature. Affection is compared and contrasted to many different things, in many different forms. Two pieces of literature that can be correlated to each other are Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess. These two remarkable dramatic monologues portray love in a very odd way by the killing of their lovers. Each of the speakers in the stories have different motives, but ultimately executed the same deed. Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess are two pieces of literature with many similarities, as well as differences.

The motives of the speaker in Porphyria’s Lover are much different than those of My Last Duchess. The man, and lover of Porphyria, opens the monologue in a dull room sitting by himself. He recognizes the weather outside as violent, which adds suspicion that something atrocious may happen. When Porphyria enters the room, she begins to add character to the scene. She starts a fire, and

attempts to start a conversation. The narrator gives her the silent treatment, hinting that he is upset at his companion. When the woman sits down next to him, she settles his head on her bare shoulder. At this point in the monologue, she has the upper hand in the relationship. She once again attempts to converse, but her suitor does not respond. Instead he begins to silently wrap Porphyria’s blonde hair around her own esophagus, and strangles her. The speaker suggests that she did not struggle at all, and that presents that she felt no pain. Now, after the “humane” murder was committed, the speaker begins to explain his actions. Previously in the couple’s relationship, Porphyria announced that she would be pleased to continue her happiness with her lover until the end of time. The insanity of the speaker is brought out, and he kills her so that she could be with him forever. “Porphyria’s love: she guessed not how her darling one wish could be heard. And thus we sit together now.” After this, the reader understands that the poem was written after the murder was committed, and Porphyria’s head lay on her lover's shoulder. The poem concludes after he has the high head of the relationship.
The speaker in My Last Duchess has his sweetheart assassinated for a much different, and illogical sense. The Duke’s previous wife was a very beautiful human being. The Duke explains his reasoning to expose of her to an agent that represents the family of his soon to be, new wife's family. The Duke’s wealth is shown during his explanation of his old wife, and the painting that was being examined. He then continues to explain his motives of excluding his wife. “She had A heart-how shall I say?-too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on.” The speaker continues to say that his ex-wife was just too joyful. The Duke suggests that she was killed for smiling too much. This is the evidence that he had his lover executed. My Last Duchess differs from Porphyria’s Lover because of the motivation behind the murder.
Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess also have multiple similarities.

The first, and completely obvious observation of their common characteristics is the cold, hard fact that each lover exterminated their significant other. Another affinity is the overall logic of doing so. “I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive.” The narrator of My Last Duchess kills his lover because of her “extreme” joy. He ultimately states that she cannot be controlled, and that is why he had to assassinate her. The Duke loved her, and without being able to control her he did not want to lose her love. He executed his duchess because of her inability to be controlled or commanded. The speaker of Porphyria’s Lover is utterly insane. He strangles his suitor to fulfill a wish that she had made, but in a completely lunatic way. To allow for Porphyria to be with him for eternity, he kills her. What a looney! The logic of two murders is similar because of the fact to keep their woman controlled or for

eternity.
My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover are two dramatic monologues that can easily be compared and contrasted. The speaker of Porphyria’s Lover executed Porphyria to fulfill a wish that she had previously made. The Duke of My Last Duchess could not control his woman, due her happiness, so he had her executed. These two crazy lovers had motives that are somewhat similar. Each of these pieces of literature raise many questions about the insanity that comes with love. Should a man or woman drive their significant other crazy, does that show it is “true” love?