Porphyria's Lover
There were a few things about Porphyria's Lover that I didn't really understand. I'll go in order:
Porphyria sits down besides the lover and calls out to him, but he doesn't respond. She put his arm around her waist, laid his head on her bare shoulder (described in a very angelic way), and murmured how she loved him, which kind of sounds like she thinks he's dead (but he's very clearly alive).
When he decides to strangle her, why use her hair? Why does he not use his hands? Is the hair symbolic of something greater? Did he want to give her the most painless death possible, and he thought her hair would be the best instrument for this goal?
As I mentioned earlier, it seems to me that when Porphyria comes in the house, she believes that the lover is dead. This is because the lover's behavior when he strangles Porphyria is very similar to her behavior when she sees him on the couch, in the way that they both take the other's head and rest it on their shoulder. Why would the love pretend to be dead? When his love walked in the door, why wouldn't he want to greet her, hug her, kiss her? He just sits there, pretending to be dead, which is also why I believe she murmurs her love for him--she is proclaiming her love to her (perceived to be) dead lover.
I'm also skeptical of how he briefly glanced over the way he murdered Porphyria. He says that he was "quite sure she felt no pain," but it sounds to me that strangling someone with her own hair would cause resistance and struggle, and more than likely a small amount of pain. This fact gives more insight into the character of the narrator, who we can already tell is a bit of a psychopath, but we can now see that he considers strangling, which is never quick, to be painless. The fact that the story is told from the perspective of the narrator is very important, as a third person account of the story would likely reveal a few more interesting facts that were glanced over in the actual poem.
Porphyria sits down besides the lover and calls out to him, but he doesn't respond. She put his arm around her waist, laid his head on her bare shoulder (described in a very angelic way), and murmured how she loved him, which kind of sounds like she thinks he's dead (but he's very clearly alive).
When he decides to strangle her, why use her hair? Why does he not use his hands? Is the hair symbolic of something greater? Did he want to give her the most painless death possible, and he thought her hair would be the best instrument for this goal?
As I mentioned earlier, it seems to me that when Porphyria comes in the house, she believes that the lover is dead. This is because the lover's behavior when he strangles Porphyria is very similar to her behavior when she sees him on the couch, in the way that they both take the other's head and rest it on their shoulder. Why would the love pretend to be dead? When his love walked in the door, why wouldn't he want to greet her, hug her, kiss her? He just sits there, pretending to be dead, which is also why I believe she murmurs her love for him--she is proclaiming her love to her (perceived to be) dead lover.
I'm also skeptical of how he briefly glanced over the way he murdered Porphyria. He says that he was "quite sure she felt no pain," but it sounds to me that strangling someone with her own hair would cause resistance and struggle, and more than likely a small amount of pain. This fact gives more insight into the character of the narrator, who we can already tell is a bit of a psychopath, but we can now see that he considers strangling, which is never quick, to be painless. The fact that the story is told from the perspective of the narrator is very important, as a third person account of the story would likely reveal a few more interesting facts that were glanced over in the actual poem.
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ReplyDeleteI think part of why the narrator didn't answer his lover was because he was in a sullen mood prior to his lover's arrival. He was probably angry that she came so late or jealous in case she abandoned him for her husband/other lover since he mentioned that he "listened with heart fit to break" (line 5). If he was angry or jealous, it would make sense that he would ignore her when she called him. You bring up a very good point though with how the story, being told entirely in the narrator's perspective, could be very far from what really happened that night, especially concerning the thoughts and feelings of Porphyria. Good observation!
ReplyDeleteI've never exactly heard of strangling as a painless death lol. Still I think that he acted lifeless in the beginning of the play because he already knew what he was about to do. It seems as if this murder was pre-meditated. Because of this, there would be no point in acting enthusiastic when you know you're about to murder someone.
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