21 pages • 42 minutes read
Porphyria's Lover
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning (1842)
Also a dramatic monologue, “My Last Duchess” is one of Browning’s most famous and anthologized poems. Like “Porphyria’s Lover,” it centers on a woman’s murder. The Duke is a far wealthier man than the lover, but he, too, is worried about fidelity. About to be remarried, he reveals to the unseen emissary of his betrothed’s family, a portrait of his late wife, explaining that when he found that she smiled too much at other men, he ordered her killed. While possessiveness is at the heart of both poems, the Duke’s actions seem far more calculated than those of Porphyria’s lover.
“Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” by Robert Browning (1842)
Another dramatic monologue from the Dramatic Lyrics, this poem is told by a grumpy monk who rails against another in his cloister, Brother Lawrence. As they go about their day, the monk judges Brother Lawrence on his small sins. Ironically, he wishes for his demise, imagining ways to kill him. The perceptions of the monk are unreliable just like the lover’s, though this poem is more humorous, and a murder isn’t actually committed.
“Count Gismond” by Robert Browning (1842)
This dramatic monologue features a woman persona who explains how she was saved from accusations of infidelity by Count Gismond. When Count Gauthier comes forward at a birthday party to expose the woman, saying they spent the night together, Gismond mortally wounds him, insisting he tell the truth before he dies. Gauthier retracts his words. “Count Gismond” details the same concerns about the purity of women as does “Porphyria’s Lover.” In a surprise twist, its ending implies that Gauthier was telling the truth; to hide her liaison, the speaker, now married to Gismond, allowed her lover to be murdered.
Further Literary Resources
“A Short Analysis of Robert Browning’s ‘Porphyria’s Lover’” by Oliver Tearle (2017)
Tearle, a literary critic and lecturer at the Loughborough University, gives an overview of the poem and several of its potential meanings. He addresses the reliability of the narrator, the possible historical inspiration for the murder, and the class differences between the characters. Tearle also discusses the rhyme scheme and imagery in the poem.
“Porphyria’s Lover” entry by Encyclopedia.com (2022)
This entry contains an overview of Browning’s life, art, as well as details about “Porphyria’s Lover.” It supplies four critical essays: Uma Kukathas’s analysis of the speaker’s possible psychosis; Barry L. Popowich’s examination of the meanings of “porphyria”; Michael L. Burduck’s study of the poem as an example of vampire lore; and Steven C. Walker’s exploration of how Browning achieved poetic coherence.
“The title of Browning’s 1836 poem and first use of the medical term ‘Porphyria’ (1889)” by Daniela Jose Wiita (2011)
Published on The Victorian Web, this is a small summation of the term “porphyria” and the knowledge Browning had regarding the disease.
“Porphyria’s Lover”—A Response to J. T. Best” by Dick Sullivan (2006)
This is Sullivan’s response to Best’s argument that Porphyria actually suffered from porphyria. Best believes the lover kills Porphyria to rescue her from her imminent death by disease. Sullivan disagrees and concentrates on the class distinctions evident in the poem and the lover’s possessive nature.
Listen to Poem
English voice actor Tom O’Bedlam reads “Porphyria’s Lover” at the SpokenVerse website.
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By Robert Browning
