Monday, November 3, 2008
"Porphyria's Lover"
Reading this poem, "Porphyria's Lover", lead me to the unexpected. While I started reading, I figured it was going to be about an intimate moment between two lovers. I never expected murder. I enjoyed reading this poem because of its Irony. How the speaker realized that she loved him and he didn't want to lose that feeling, so he decided to keep her forever by killing her. The speaker also reassures himself that murdering her was okay by justifying that he was sure she felt no pain. " No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain" (Lines 41-42) When he said this, you knew he was deluded and that he didn't wish to hurt her and that he was killing her out of love. The speaker also mentions her yellow hair a few times, he sees her hair when she's full of life and later he uses it to kill her. The speaker also mentions his cheek when she is alive and after he kills her he mentions her cheek. I thought it was interesting how he described her when she was alive and when she was dead and in both instances he described it as if they are in love with each other and will be together forever and that this is what she would have wanted. Overall, I liked the way this poem was written, it kept me intrigued throughout.
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You are dead right (no pun intended) about your conclusion that "he didn't wish to hurt her and that he was killing her out of love." Beyond that your interpretation breaks down because the reason for killing Porphyria is, without a doubt, euthanasa. Porphyria is a dreaded disease that predates the writing of Browning's poem. Further the common symptoms for the disease of porphyria are spread throughout the poem. Thus, the speaker did not want her to suffer such a grisly death. It was a death she wanted, thus her "smile." For a full analysis regarding euthanasa as the basis of Porphyria's death go to: http://porphyriaslover.tripod.com/index.html
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