Comparing My Last Duchess 'And Porphyria's Lover'

Robert Browning was considered one of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century and is one of the major poets of the Victorian era. His major poems showed his mastery of the dramatic monologue, a poem written in the form of a speech by an individual character that reveals the character’s inner feelings and thoughts. According to John Algeo, Professor of English at the University of Georgia, “When discussing the poetic form of dramatic monologue, it is rare that it is not associated with its usage attributed to the poet Robert Browning.” This clearly suggests that most of Browning’s poems will be in the form of dramatic monologues. The poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning have many similarities as well as differences.

First of all, a difference between the poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning is the use of imagery. Imagery is the use of figurative language to help a reader visualize the surroundings and infer main messages in a text. The great author Stephen King believes, “Image leads to story, and story leads to everything else.” Basically, he thinks imagery is a very important aspect in a piece of literature. In Porphyria’s Lover, descriptions of the weather at the beginning of the poem are used to create a foreboding atmosphere. This opening imagery foreshadows the events to come later in the poem. For example, it states, “The rain set early in tonight/The sullen wind was soon awake.” (lines 1-2). The word sullen being used is especially effective in creating a mood that sets up the reader for the rest of the text. Also, Porphyria’s yellow hair is a recurring image, which emphasizes that it will be important later on in the poem. In contrast, the poem My Last Duchess uses limited imagery; Browning describes the Duchess through her actions rather than through her appearance. This lack of figurative language reflects the idea that the Duke is not a good speaker. This concept is presented when he states, “Even had you skill/In speech--(which I have not)....” (lines 35-36). Clearly, it makes sense that there is not much imagery used in My Last Duchess compared to that employed in Porphyria’s Lover.

In addition, the speakers in both Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning are the cause of their lovers’ deaths.

However, the women die in very different ways. In My Last Duchess, the Duke either metaphorically or literally kills the Duchess. This is implied in lines 45-46, which explain, “This grew; I gave commands/Then all smiles stopped together.” There are two ways to interpret these lines; either the Duke gave commands to her to stop smiling, or he gave commands for her to be killed. Either way, it cannot be argued that he was the cause of her death due to his phenomenal envy. To emphasize, George Monteiro, Professor of English at Brown University, points out that, “...the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy.” Similarly, in Porphyria’s Lover, the speaker is the solitary cause of his lover’s demise. He reveals this by describing that, “...all her hair/In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around/And strangled her.” (lines 39-41). This speaker’s motives are out of love rather than hatred. However, as Professor of Philosophy Aaron Ben-Zeev articulates, “Explaining the man’s horrific behavior as stemming from love is in no way a justification for their actions.” Just because the speaker’s motives in Porphyria’s Lover were not due to anger does not mean he can be seen as any better than the Duke. Undoubtedly, the speakers in both poems were responsible for the death of their

lovers.

Finally, an obvious similarity between Robert Browning’s poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover is that both of the speakers are jealous and want control. The speaker in Porphyria’s Lover wants Porphyria all to himself, and the easiest way for him to achieve that goal is to kill her. He believes it is the only option because her heart is too weak, in his words, “...to set its struggling passion free/From pride, and vainer ties dissever/And give herself to me for ever.” (lines 23-25). Basically, he killed her because he wanted her to be with him forever. He is also jealous of the other people she may have ties with because she will not break those ties for him. According to Catherine Maxwell, Professor of Victorian Literature at Queen Mary University of London, “Browning shows how apparently reasoned justification is founded on misprision, on fantasy, jealousy, fear, and aggression.” The speaker in this poem is both jealous and afraid, which seems to be his “reasoned justification.” Likewise, the speaker in My Last Duchess is very noticeably jealous, mainly because his girl smiles at everyone. He explains that, “...she smiled.../Whene’re I passed her; but who passed without/Much the same smile?” (lines 43-45). In these lines, he is saying that although she did smile at him, she also smiled at everyone else. According to author Lois Marchino, this reveals, ““...his obsessive possessiveness and jealousy.” It can definitely be inferred that the speakers in both poems are extremely jealous and have a need for complete control.

Obviously, there are many comparisons that can be made between the poems My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover. First, the use of imagery in the poems is quite different. On the other hand, the texts are similar because both speakers kill their lovers in one way or another, and both speakers are very envious and controlling. Clearly, Robert Browning’s perfected dramatic monologues can be taken to a whole new level when you compare them to one another.