[Part 2]- Porphyria’s lover ❤️‍🔥😍

Question 1

What is the rhyme scheme of Porphyria’s lover?

Answer 1

• the rhyme scheme of Porphyria’s lover is a regular ababb structure, with a asymmetrical rhyme scheme, reflecting the unbalanced state of mind [of the speaker.]
• I= Alternatively, it might also suggest the illogicalness of the speaker, or perhaps how the unbalanced, asymmetrical rhyme scheme reflects how unbalanced the speakers’ motive is- [to kill her, or have sex with her]
• ; by ending the ‘stanzas’ as rhyming couplets, it could reflects how he wants Porphyria to be his lover- for eternity, + love him for eternity, even in death Ashe tries to conserve that moment of them [ though he realises he can’t have her]

Question 2

What alternative interpretations are there about the rhyme scheme of Porphyria’s lover?

Answer 2

• I= Alternatively, it might also suggest the illogicalness of the speaker, or perhaps how the unbalanced, asymmetrical rhyme scheme reflects how unbalanced the speakers’ motive is- [to kill her, or have sex with her]
• ; by ending the ‘stanzas’ as rhyming couplets, it could reflects how he wants Porphyria to be his lover- for eternity, + love him for eternity, even in death as he tries to conserve that moment of them [ though he realises he can’t have her]

Question 3

What is the form of Porphyria’s lover?

Answer 3

• written in a monologue [and in one long stanza],the speaker in Porphyria’s lover is a murderer, who spends all night with the body of their victim.
• the poem presents their perspective, thoughts and feelings…
• R/C= which would make a modern reader feel disturbed and unsettled; for a Victorian reader, the poem may appear to be thrilling because sensation and gothic novels were popular.

Question 4

What else can we comment, about the form of Porphyria’s lover?

Answer 4

• Since this poem is a monologue, we only see things from the speaker’s perspective.
• /D= On a deeper level, perhaps it contextually reflects how women like Porphyria in Victorian times, had no voice + no control over their lives.
• Furthemore, The speaker is unreliable Aswell…
• R= making it doubly unsettling for the reader, as he claimed Porphyria felt no pain [which is unlikely]

Question 5

What is the meaning and message of Porphyria’s lover?

Answer 5

• C= Browning uses this poem to comment on the balance of power in male-female relationships.
• This is because his message of the poem, is that women who assert their power + sexual desire will ultimately be punished.

Question 6

‘And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 6

• the speaker is afraid he might be punished by God; God’s silence may also be interpreted as a judgement on Porphyria, for expressing her sexual desire and letting her ‘damp hair fall’.
• I= Alternatively, God’s silence, might reflect the speaker’s mad perspective, by suggesting God approves of his actions.
• the exclamation mark, affects the readers’s reponse to the speaker, as he is suprised that he won’t be punsihed, as the speaker dosen’t believe God exist.

Question 7

What context relates to the quote ‘And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 7

• C= this relfects Browning’s agnosticism, [as he questioned God’s place in the world.]
• C= In the Victorian Era, Robert Browning’s readee would take the Christian perspctive [as the majoritu were Christian]

Question 8

What else can we say about the form of ‘Porphyria’s lover’

Answer 8

• the purpose of the monologue in this poem, is to make the reader question the speaker’s motive.

Question 9

Why is the poem written in one long stanza?

Answer 9

• to emphasise how the speaker is beginning to lose control- what he is doing is simply irrational; he thinks it’s rational.
• R= Furthermore, Browning does this to disturb the reader by changing the expected form to compressed amd without any stanzas- this hints at the speaker’s psychotic nature.

Question 10

What alternative interpretations can we say about the quote ‘And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 10

• I= does this speaker desire to be punished, or does this perhaps try to attack the Christian faith [and it’s morality] by arguing that if there’s no God, why should we fear acting on our desires?

Question 11

What alternative interpretations can we say about the quote ‘And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 11

• I= does this speaker desire to be punished, or does this perhaps try to attack the Christian faith [and it’s morality] by arguing that if there’s no God, why should we fear acting on our desires?

Question 12

What can you tell me about how Porphyria is portrayed as active, in juxtaposition to the speaker?

Answer 12

• In juxtaposition to the speaker, Porphyria is portrayed as very active which is reinforced by Browning using lots of active verbs
• C= ; this is unusual since given the Victorian context, men were expected to be dominant whilst women were expected to be submissive and passive but Porphyria subverts these gender roles [typical of the Victorian Era]- she puts his arms around her waist, + initiates physical contact.

Question 13

Why does he kill Porphyria?

Answer 13

• Perhaps the speaker kills Porphyria since he wants to posses Porphyria forever and is afraid of losing he
• I= alternatively, he might have killed Porphyria as he wants to preserve that moment in time where he realises she reciprocates his loves as she ‘worshipped’ the speaker- ‘Porphyria worshipped me’- the speaker is so shocked, he tries to preserve her love for eternity- by killing her.

Question 14

Why does he kill Porphyria?

Answer 14

• Moreover, the romantic poets lived by their own rules- this poem is untypical of a normal romantic poem + perhaps Browning is the lover, rejecting conformity which then reflects how the speaker is infact punishing Porphyria for conforming and not following her heart + the speaker.

Question 15

Why does he kill Porphyria?

Answer 15

• Interestingly, the speaker punishes Pohyria similar to society.
• Her crime is that she contradicts and goes against the rules that society has placed by: not only loving some who is inferior/lower status than her, but by having sex outside of marriage [and expressing her sexual desire].
• relating to Browning’s message that women who assert their sexual desire, will ultimately he punished as death could be a punishement, for expressing her sexual desire.
• I= Alternatively, this poem could also be a commentary about how society kills love, by forbidding relationships that consist of different social classes.

Question 16

What alternative interpretation can we comment on about the quote ‘ And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 16

• God hasn’t said a word because God is a construct, created by society and Christianity is invented by the Church, to keep people adhering to rules/in line. Therefore, God has no power.
• Furthermore, if this is the view the speaker takes, perhaps it suggests that a belief in God, is advantageous to society. Since if the speaker believed God was real, he may never have murdered Porphyria.

Question 17

What alternative interpretation can we comment on about the quote ‘ And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 17

• I= Alternatively, does this unveil to the reader the psychotic nature/madness of the speaker which a Christian reader in the Victorian era would understand, since they believed that eternal punishment in hell is worse than any penalty on Earth.
• ; If he isn’t caught, he will ultimately be punished by God, so the freedom the speaker thinks he has, is a facade/an illusion.

Question 18

What alternative interpretation can we comment on about the quote ‘ And yet God has not said a word!’

Answer 18

• I= Alternatively, is this an assault/attack on a Victorian patriarchal society, that allows men to believe they can get away with murder, since the victim is female.
• Moreover, is this a further commentary that Porphyria is perhaps treated this way because society views women, as only possessions + an extensions of men?

Question 19

What does Browning claim about the murder of Porphyria being illogical?

Answer 19

• So is Browning claiming that in fact, the murder of Porphyria was illogical, is he saying this is only a small part, in which society treats men as superior to women. Relating to how his loved one [Elizabeth B-B] was much more successful, than himself, does he do this out of happiness/joy because he treats her as a women, not his own possession.
• [This is shown in the two of them fleeing Britain and moving to a country where women are naturally treated as equals.

Question 21

What can you comment on about Browning’s monologues?

Answer 21

• Robert Browning’s monologues are what made him a noteworthy and - distinctive poet in the Victorian era/in his day.
• By using monologues, Browning enters into the psyche of his characters which he created.

Question 21

What can you comment on about Browning’s monologues?

Answer 21

• Additionally, it’s interesting to note how many of his characters are malicious- he does this to make the reader question what his own ideas and personal thoughts are.
• They are intentionally provocative, as each poem can be used as a story. ; in every story, we our made to question what the ‘lesson’/moral is- could this be why Browning often writes about characters who are malicious to make us question and explore what the ‘lesson’/moral is- link a critical theory-

Question 22

‘soiled gloves’ ‘damp hair fall’

Answer 22

• In Victorian society, a ‘fallen women’ was a euphemism for a woman who had virginity. This signifies she is ready to give herself to the speaker sexually.

C= This is also contextually important, because it reflects Victorian double standards: women are judged negatively of they love their virginity before marriage [unlike men]