This poem scares me a little, it is about a mans dillsuional and seemingly paranoid affection for Porphyria. She has told him that she loves him, and he wants to keep that moment sacred, so he strangles her with her own hair. This poem is written after the fact and is his recollection and reasoning behind it all. She says she loves him and he, "so, she came through wind and rain. Be sure I looked up at her eyes. Happy and proud; at last I knew. Porphyria worshipped me; surprise Made my heart swell and still it grew while I debated what to do." This quote describes his feeling when Porphyria describes and proclaimes her love for him, coming through the wind and rain.
So he decides to, " That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good: I found 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 quiet sure she felt no pain." This is the part that disturbs me. He has found pure love, and it appears to be mutual, why else would he have such passion for her? She "felt no pain" is irrelevant, because we cannot ask her, but the psychology that he thinks she felt no pain is evident. He feels she is so in love with him that she is enjoying the pain and actually wanted it to happen. The last line of the poem is what concludes his mental instability, "And yet God has not said a word!" Here he describes his murder and then says she would be at peace and even a willing participant, whatever the case, God has accepted his deed and not done a thing about it. So to him, fate is sealed, he has done the right thing in this situation, to preserve the love they share, the only way was to kill her.
I have mixed feelings about this poem, at first reading I see a sick demented person who is too paranoid that his lover will leave him or fall out of love with him, and he wants to keep the love pure. But at a second glance I see how much he actually loved her, we do not know the circumstances of his poem, and most of Browning's characters are psychopaths, in interpretation, but this one seems to have a pure love with mixed morals. I do not see myself identifying with this fictional character, but I can see the psychology behind some murders of passion that have been committed in modern day, or back then. They have had a reason, however skewed, that made it okay and the right thing to do.
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Jack,
ReplyDeleteInteresting exploration of Browning's dark and shocking dramatic monologue. I like the way you approach it from several angles, and report (rather than resolve) your mixed reactions to the main character.
I agree with you and it kind of reminds me of the show I love looking at which is SNAPPED. He had to have been having a moment and make sure she was going to love him forever. He even knew he was wrong, waited for Gods punishment. He had definately lost his mind.
ReplyDeleteI thought this guy was pretty sick myself, he not only stragles her with her own hair, but ablso sits with her head on his shoulders as if he was waiting for her to wake up. He just wanted her for himself entirely and so he felt that was necessary. I agree with your interpretation entirely.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem probably stood out with most of us. The fact that Browning did such a good(?) job of placing himself in the shoes of someone who is obviously deranged is both fascinating and disturbing. I don't think I've ever read another poem like this one! I agree with your interpretation as well.
ReplyDeleteI also saw this poem as frightneing in that the man wanted to keep the woman forever and therefore he kills her. This does not seem a very prudent way of keeping the woman since then she will be dead and there will be no feelings in return.
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