Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Porphyria's Lover By Robert Browning

The poem Porphyria's Lover, has a sort of Romantic,yet sinister feel about it.
I loved the way the poem plays out a story, How a love so beautifully depicted turns into something so unexpectedly murderous an vicious.
At the start of the poem, I thought that the scene where it states and I Quote 'The sullen wind was soon awake', would just be another dreary day were the lives of the two subjects would just decribe there day to day lives. But then again reading that it also states that 'She shut the cold out and the storm'. Metaphorically, that could state that she is trying to keep out the world and the harms it could bring to her, if she doesn't shut out 'the storm'. But could also men that with the opens skies pouring shutting the down Is effectively keeping the weather out, where she the 'Kneel'd nd made the cheerless grate, Blaze up,and all the cottage warm'.

However though you have the fact that the poet is painting a solemn picture for the readers to read and to depict it as best as they will, i find that reading on, in stance 21, the picture becomes clearer of how a woman in some of her infinite wisdom and capabilities comes of as being somewhat of a seductress, Quoting 'She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare'. It just seems like she Is being presented as some kind of prostitute, a lady of Pleasure, but also indicates how much she is in love or how she assumes her love for this man, whom she wishes to entice.

But then I also think that this Man, whom she speaks of, loves her too and admires the fact that she is actually showing him how much she does love him.
Stance 29 ' For love, of her and all in vain;
                  So, she was come through wind and rain.
                  Be sure I looked at her eyes
                  Happy and proud; at last I knew
                  Porphyria worshipp'd me;surprise
                  Made my heart swell and still it grew'

It just seems that he is in love with her and the fact that she is also 'Perfectly pure and good'. This proves to be a contradiction to the way i percieved her as i stated in the paragragh's above, that she seems somewhat like a seductive mistress of some kind.
But then again, the contradiction of his love for her, does ot stop there but goes onto where she is killed as he felt like that at that certain moment in time she was all his, and noboy else's, 'That moment she was all mine, mine, fair,'. This, reading back just seems to indicate a sudden sort of dominance towards the fact that she is there with him and will do anything to please him.


1 comment:

  1. A very good general response to the poem. Now aim to refer to narrative elements to evaluate how Browning tells the story.

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