Access over 20 million homework & study documents

Porphyria Text

Content type
User Generated
Subject
English
School
University of Winnipeg
Type
Homework
Rating
Showing Page:
1/6
1
Student’s Name
Supervisor’s Name
Course Number
Date
The Motive behind Porphyria’s Murder
Porphyria’s Lover, a poem by the British poet Robert Browning, presents violence
embedded in passion between two lovers with diverse sexual activeness and orientation. The
poem was first published in 1836 and is a dramatic monologue of a protagonist who seems
obsessed with a persistent yet dark motive that ends in a mysterious murder. While the motive to
end life remains concealed, the looming feelings of pride and the dark desire to exercise overt
control of a lover speaks volumes about the degree of the protagonist’s obsession. Despite the
cold unfolding of the night’s events, a sense of justice and purity rests in the murder’s mind,
which further creates an ambiguity of the underlying motive.
Nevertheless, the author presents the twisted tale of love and control to demonstrate the
fateful ending of a passionate Porphyria at the hands of an unsuspected lover. The suspenseful
poem walks the reader through a series of the narrator’s contemplation of evil as Porphyria
expresses her love. Hence, the dilemma behind the cold murder is worth investigating to unearth
the protagonist’s core motive. Through a critical analysis of the poem’s structure, choice of
words, and active themes, this essay will discuss the causal plot and interchange of events on the
stormy night when Porphyria breathed her last. By examining the narrator’s behavior, character,
and contemplative mind, this essay will inspect clues of potential factors that may have driven
the two lovers towards a sudden and fateful termination of love. Therefore, this essay argues that
non-voluntary euthanasia is the protagonist’s motive of the murder, which is meant to save

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/6
2
Porphyria from a complicated bitter-sweet relationship. This evil motive is evidenced by the
narrator’s character of a quiet, thoughtful, and selfish man who allows his pride to take away the
pain of a committed lover unequivocally.
The vivid description of the night at the start of the poem sets the mood for the entire
monologue, painting a picture of the protagonist’s feelings and possible thoughts. According to
the narration, the night was stormy with “rain setting early that night” and a strong wind “tearing
the elm-tops down” and “vexing the lake.” (Browning) Therefore, the heavy downpour and
violent winds characterize rough weather, which undeniably catches the protagonist’s attention,
who “listened with heart fit to break.” The setting represents a lone man probably deep in
thoughts who observes the night as his lover enjoys a gay garish feast. Although the narrator’s
thoughts are not specified, it is apparent from the night’s description that the poem’s plot is cold
and suspenseful. Later on, when Porphyria enters the chilly cottage, the protagonist does not
reply to her call. This silence depicts the character of a quiet man who chooses to bury and lose
himself in his thoughts over appreciating his lover’s presence, a sign of selfishness.
Beyond the silence, it is likely that evil larks in the narrator’s mind who is consumed by
the agony of a suffering Porphyria, whose love is “too weak for all her heart’s endeavor.
(Browning)” Although it is evident that the speaker’s attitude towards his forbearing lover
demonstrates obsession and the desire to control her, agony seems to consume the protagonist.
He keenly observes Porphyria as she enters and warms up the cottage, gets rid of her soaked
clothes, and sits next to him. All this time, the narrator is “debating what to do,” a connotation
that expresses a person willing to take huge risks in ending a complicated relationship. In my
view, the narrator agonized over Porphyria’s passionate love for him, love that a gay feast could
not restrain, that she endured “coming through wind and rain” to be with the one she loved.

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/6

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 6 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
1 Student’s Name Supervisor’s Name Course Number Date The Motive behind Porphyria’s Murder Porphyria’s Lover, a poem by the British poet Robert Browning, presents violence embedded in passion between two lovers with diverse sexual activeness and orientation. The poem was first published in 1836 and is a dramatic monologue of a protagonist who seems obsessed with a persistent yet dark motive that ends in a mysterious murder. While the motive to end life remains concealed, the looming feelings of pride and the dark desire to exercise overt control of a lover speaks volumes about the degree of the protagonist’s obsession. Despite the cold unfolding of the night’s events, a sense of justice and purity rests in the murder’s mind, which further creates an ambiguity of the underlying motive. Nevertheless, the author presents the twisted tale of love and control to demonstrate the fateful ending of a passionate Porphyria at the hands of an unsuspected lover. The suspenseful poem walks the reader through a series of the narrator’s contemplation of evil as Porphyria expresses her love. Hence, the dilemma behind the cold murder is worth investigating to unearth the protagonist’s core motive. Through a critical analysis of the poem’s structure, choice of words, and active themes, this essay will discuss the causal plot and interchange of events on the stormy night when Porphyria breathed her last. By examining the narrator’s behavior, character, and contemplative m ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
Awesome! Made my life easier.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4