Porphyro Flashcards
(11 cards)
entirely motivated by passion, conflating the heart as a symbol of love with fire a symbol of lust
‘heart on fire for Madeline’
asyndetic list of increasing intimacy charactering Porphyro being overcome by passion and lust, caesar hints at the escalation to his ultimate fantasy (sex)
‘he might gaze and worship’ ‘speak, kneel, touch, kiss-‘
ambiguity over to what extent Porphyro is the tragic villain or whether Madeline is luring him in and the situation is so dire not even the heavens can protect her
‘God help!’
‘Good angels her deceive’
suggests porphyro has a sense of innocence and perhaps his intentions were true, he may have been clueless to the ritual entirely, he may be a tragic hero compelled only by fate not sinister intentions
‘puzzled urchin’
Porphyro is characterised as a tragic villain → the alliteration enhances the sinister atmosphere, and how Porphyro might corrupt her innocence
‘closest crept’
characterised as voyeuristic to grant himself sexual pleasure
‘gazed upon her empty dress’
biblical allusion to temptation with Adam and Eve, idea of corruption and the sin of gluttony, pent up indulgent desire
‘heap of candied apple’
harsh reality of Porphyro not meeting Madeline’s expectations
‘pallid, chill and drear’
alluding to sexual intimacy but possibly rape - ambiguous to what extent Madeline is aware of reality
‘he arose ethereal, flushed, like a throbbing star’
more romantic reading would see that he is becoming the man she dreams of in this moment, idea of union
‘into her dream he melted’
Porphyro is the tragic villain manipulating the situation forcing her into marriage, reinforces the significance of this moment in reality and how her choices have become limited due to patriarchal views on sex outside of wedlock
-diacope of ‘my’ a possessive pronoun introduces the idea of patriarchal ownership
‘this is no dream, my bride, my Madeline’
