Porphyrias Lover - Quotes

Question 1

“her smooth white shoulder bare”

“yellow hair displaced”

Answer 1

1 -obession of parts of her body, “white shoulders” connotes to virginity, portraying her as a result of male lust and fantasy, sexual longing

2 - she is portrayed as a mere object of lust, devoid of her own agency as a real person - she is not seen for her spiritual yet physical qualities - underlying how she is fragmented into her physical features for male enjoyment

3 - her shoulder is “bare” infront of a male - unconventional for a repressed age of victorian women - this unusual nature would resonate with the reader and sets a tone for a weird and unusual poem which stems as a result of obsession - is he imagining this?

Question 2

“porphyria”

Answer 2

1 - increased sense of foreboding - porphyria is an illness which causes hallucinations and delirium - perhaps this isnt physical but a deep rooted fantasy.

Question 3

“And yet God has not said a word”

Answer 3

1 - his posessive fantasy is deemed to be more powerful than the actions of God - he has committed a sin yet will not pay for it?

2 - employs the idea that men, without divine ruling of the Gods, will descend into chaos, and unleash these fantasies rooted in everyone

3 - God is perhaps staying silent - delirium of the man which has rooted from his obessive nature, he believes God is supporting his actions.