Was Porphyria really that into it?
Was Porphyria really that into it?
One of the unique things about Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” is that Porphyria herself never speaks in dialogue, nor do we ever get a valid glimpse of her true thoughts. Because of this, it is possible to really analyze the narrator’s point of view on his relationship with Porphyria and what he thinks about the relationship. It is clear that he believes that the murder he committed was the right thing to do, and this belief can be seen in the lines surrounding the deed itself. He mentions that she “made my heart swell” and made him “happy and proud”. It is clear that he is madly in love with her, and that he cannot imagine living without her, or with another man. He is clearly deranged too, as the idea of killing someone to preserve a moment is absolutely absurd. This combination of factors instills a little bit of doubt in the poem, and makes me wonder whether Porphyria was really that excited to be around the narrator.
This is seen in another disconnect with reality directly after the killing. The narrator describes her as dying peacefully, saying “No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain”. I’m not entirely convinced that being strangled with your own hair is a painless process, as I could picture Porphyria gasping desperately for breath and clawing at her neck. But the narrator is adamant that things went peacefully. It could be that this is similar to their relationship, with the deranged narrator thinking that Porphyria loves him and spending time together, while Porphyria is secretly having a much worse time of it. Since we never see her perspective, this is entirely possible. This doesn’t really explain why she trekked through a rainstorm to see the narrator, but it is worth it to analyze the possibility, as seeing everything through the lens of the narrator distorts the reality.
It is helpful to put the poem in perspective, as it is easy to forget the story is being told by someone insane enough to murder someone with their own hair and feel as if they had done them a favor. A mentally healthy person would not be so calm and casual about an action as extreme as killing someone. So, we really can't believe anything in this poem. Even the descriptions of his own feelings are questionable, he is clearly very unstable and likely doesn't even understand himself well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view that Porphyria might not have loved the narrator as much as he believed. Since the poem is all written from the narrator's perspective, we have no ways of knowing Porphyria's real thoughts and feelings, but it's safe to say that she definitely wouldn't have viewed being strangled to death her 'utmost will', as the narrator describes in line 53. Although I do believe that Porphyria does love the narrator, since otherwise she wouldn't have walked through wind and rain to see him late at night, she definitely doesn't 'worship' the narrator as much as he thought.
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