Robert Browning uses irony in the poem Porphyria’s Lover. When the speaker finally realizes that Porphyria is truly in love with him he strangles her. Porphyia traveled through the storm to reach the speaker to prove her love for him and “she shut the cold out and the storm,”(719)
Porphyria “made her smooth white shoulder bare”(719) in giving herself to the speaker because of her love to him. She offers herself unconditionally and how ironic that the speaker would murder her with her own hair for such a gift.
The speaker was so proud, “Porphyria worshipped me,”(720) he says and because of this worship and love the speaker wants to preserve something so special he decides to kill her so he will always have her love, that she will not be able to give it to anyone else.
The last few sentences of the poem start off with “Porphyria’s love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard” (720) shows how the irony continues in the poem from the beginning to the end. Her one wish was granted, to be with the speaker, and now she will be with him forever.
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