Porphyrias Lover And Edgar Allan Poe's White

“They’ll write on my gravestone, ‘I loved you more than I should’” (Hayes). Love can be toxic to a relationship. Sometimes, with love, there comes complications, obsession, and desire. These, in moderation, are no struggle; however, in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “Bridal Ballad” love wreaks havoc on the lives of the lovers. Browning struggled with being content; he swiftly grew tired of education. Poe struggled most of his life with loss thus creating dreary and despondent writings. Both Robert Browning in his cynical “Porphyria’s Lover” and Edgar Allan Poe in his distressing “Bridal Ballad” explore the theme of dark love through their use of symbolism, situational irony, and alliteration. Through figurative language, Browning conveys a malevolent story

He had a younger sister of twenty months. Sarah, his mother, was a devout Congregationalist and musician. His father desired to be a professional artist; however, lack of money in his youth deterred him. Browning “was deeply influenced by the spirituality of his mother and the artistic learnings of both his parents” (Padgett). His father’s large book collection helped Browning further his knowledge in his own way. Later in life, Browning eloped with his wife, Elizabeth (Padgett). Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” is about a complicated love in which a man is more invested than his lover. Unable to deal with this devastation, he strangles her. Due to the speaker’s desperate desire for Porphyria, his obsession takes over. After kissing her, he places the corpse’s head on his shoulder and contemplates why God has not said anything. This shines light on the speaker being an obsessive psychopath (Cummings “Porphyria’s”). Moreover, symbolism in “Porphyria’s Lover” contributes to the theme of obsession and desire. The name Porphyria symbolizes the Greek word for the color purple, thus representing