Within the Mind of Porphyria's Lover

          “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning is a poem in which the tables are turned on a woman by her demented lover. Our view of Porphyria and the situation is through the eyes of her lover and in his mind we are treated to his thoughts and his twisted logic. The beginning of the poem tells us a lot about how the speaker is feeling since he projects his feelings into describing the nature around him.

The rain set early in tonight

The sullen wind was soon awake,

It tore the elm tops down for spite,

And did its worst to vex the lake,

                                                                      (1-4)

            By his personification of nature, we can tell that the rain is meant to symbolize Porphyria and how her early arrival wakes up the “sullen” wind. The way she tears the “elm tops down for spite” could indicate the emasculating effect she has on him. Elm tops could be seen as a phallic symbol and the speaker sees her as tearing it down to spite him. The “rain” also vexes the lake, indicating how the man is annoyed by her actions.

And, last, she sat down by my side

And called me. When no voice replied,

She put my arm about her waist,

And made her smooth white shoulder bare,

And all her yellow hair displaced,

And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,

And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair,

Murmuring how she loved me-she

Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor

To set its stuggling passion free

From pride, and vainer ties dissever,

And give herself to me forever.

                                                                                                            (14-25)

            In these lines, we continue to see his perception of her daring nature. She initiates the actions by first sitting by him and calling him to her. When he doesn’t respond to her, she takes his arm and places it on her waist and also places his cheeks on her. She begins to seduce him by showing her “smooth white shoulder bare (17). Her hair is free and flowing, indicating the freedom she possesses. She murmurs “how she loved” him, yet because of her “pride, and vainer ties” she cannot give herself to him forever. She is the initiator in their relationship, she goes to him, controls his actions and by the end of it, she is able to leave and he cannot posses her. Such actions by a woman of this time period can be emasculating to a man.

            In his twisted mind he comes to imagine that since she had “come through wind and rain” (30), that “Porphyria worshipped me:” (33). He makes it justifiable in his mind that since she has gone through all that trouble, she must truly love him with a deep passion. With his mind set on this idea, he devises a way so that they could be together forever. His insanity is highlighted as he sets his plan to motion.

A thing to do, and all her hair

In one long yellow string I wound

Three times her little throat around,

And strangled her. No pain felt she;

I am quite sure she felt no pain.

                                                                                                            (38-42)

            Irony strikes poor Porphyria as the very symbol of her freedom leads to her downfall. Her free-flowing hair is used as a weapon to take her life. In her lover’s twisted mind, he comforts himself by stating that he is “quite sure she felt no pain.” (42) In this, he believes that Porphyria wanted to be murdered and that she even enjoyed the pain that he has inflicted upon her.

            Once her life is gone, he now takes control of her and the tables are turned as it is he who moves her limbs. He “oped her lids” (44) so that he could look into her eyes and that in her eyes, he is the only man being reflected on them. He “…propped her head up as before,/Only this time my shoulder bore/Her head…”(49-51).  He untangles her hair from her neck and kisses her, in his mind he imagines that she “Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:” (48) He imagines that his kiss alone still makes her blush, though in reality her flushed appearance is due to being strangled.

            His delusion goes further in that he sees her “…smiling rosy little head,/So glad it has its utmost will,” (52-53). In reality, Porphyria is dead, no longer have any will to defy him or to leave him. In his mind, he sees that she chose him and that “Her darling one wish would be heard.” (57); for them to be together. He rationalizes that his murder of her is justifiable since “God has not said a word!” (60) In his mind, he believes that God condones his actions because nothing bad has happened to them as they “sit together now/And all night long” (58-59).