Robert Browning's
poem “Porphyria's Lover” is often analyzed and understood to be a
poem about a man and his domination of his lover, which is the
rightful opposition for male and female relationships of the time. (
Although the dominance in everyday Victorian life was no where near
as extreme as the dominance portrayed in Browning's poem. )
However, there is
another message that is often over looked, which is a simple message
of social cometary, meant to be viewed as warning to all females of
the time: Your sexuality will be your downfall.
From the very
beginning we are introduced to a woman who is, surprise surprise, NOT
afraid of her sexuality. She freely lets down her hair and approaches
her lover, and is even forward enough to take his hand and put it on
her waist. It is Porphyria's confidence and familiarity with her won
sexuality that leads her to Death's door in the form of ultimate
dominance at the hands of her secret lover. But the warning lies
within how he chose to assert himself.
I
found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
Yes folks, you read
it right. He strangles his lover with her own hair! The epitome of
female sexuality, the purest symbol of femininity is what is used to
kill Porphyria. It is in this simple act, these four simple lines,
that Browning reveals his warning: Your sexuality will be your
downfall.
But, we have to ask
ourselves why this is? Why was female sexuality so frowned upon? Was
it because we as females are too simpleminded to know the dangers our
own bodies can cause? Or is it because men are too weak to withstand
the sight of something to simple as a woman's golden locks? Perhaps
it is because our strength lies in what makes us feminine;our beauty,
and men know that they stand no chance against us should we decide to
use it against them. So, they try to make us fear ourselves,
otherwise, the world as men knew it, the world of male dominance they
were so accustomed to, would crumble at our dainty little feet.
Perhaps it isn't exactly their sexuality that is their downfall, but rather their expression of their sexuality. It's hard to say that sexuality leads to the destruction of women, as every woman has some expression of it. I think their sexuality is only truly dangerous to themselves when it is so open, free, and almost independent of men; like Porphyria's.
ReplyDeleteDon't you think the themes of sexuality and domination are inextricably linked in this poem? Porphyria's sexuality is threatening precisely because she is in control of it, which leads to the speaker's need to dominate her completely. Do you think Browning is commenting on the ways in which English society stigmatizes expressions of female desire?
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