Comparing Males in Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My...

Controlling Males in Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess The death of the female beloved is the only way deemed possible by the insecure, possessive male to seize her undivided attention. This beloved woman represents the reflector and guarantor of male identity. Hence, the male anxiety about the womans independence for her liberty puts his masculine self-estimation at risk (Maxwell 29). The jealous and controlling males in Robert Brownings Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess possess a fervent desire to fix and monopolize their unconstrained female beloveds. Due to a fear of death, both speakers attempt to achieve control and deny object loss; by turning their lovers (once subjects) into objects,†¦show more content†¦Brownings romantic setting--Porphyria has come to [the lover] out of a world from which he is foreclosed--implies that her darling one wish was something comparable to: I want to be with you forever. The speaker misreads her comment in order to escape being a loved object to be abandoned again. He states that Po rphyrias feminine position is one far too weak to break the vainer ties in a world of which he cannot be a part of. Torn between passionate possession of her and inevitable abandonment, he has murdered her in order to turn her into a fetishistic object which can never leave (Ingersoll 154). The lover confirms that he is in control. He is the observer; she, the silenced object. Even God has not said a word! (60), rendered silent in the face of the narrating of this masterful subject (Ingersoll 154). Through the power of his monologue, this lover successfully defies God and remakes Porphyria into his own object of desire. Like Porphyrias lover, the murderer in My Last Duchess also demands control in his relationship with the Duchess. The Duke begins his speech by exposing the exquisite portrait of his former wife to an initially unidentified guest. To him, this object is his wife. The language he uses in relation to the portrait seems deliberately confused:Show MoreRelated Comparing the two poems Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess1371 Words   |  6 PagesBy comparing the two poems Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess, explore how Browning deals worth the theme of jealousy. Jealousy is a theme that occurs quite regularly in Browning’s poems. This was particularly noticed in both of the poems ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ where in both cases, the male protagonists were jealous of the extra attention that their lovers received from other admirers. When studying both poems, the reader can create in their mind a vivid picture ofRead More Comparing the Male Characters of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess1720 Words   |  7 PagesComparing the Male Characters of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess The creation of a plausible character within literature is one of the most difficult challenges to a writer, and development to a level at which the reader identifies with them can take a long time. However, through the masterful use of poetic devices and language Browning is able to create two living and breathing characters in sixty or less lines. When one examines these works one has to that they are quite the achievementsRead MoreEssay on A Comparison Between My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover2909 Words   |  12 PagesA Comparison Between My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover Works Cited Missing Robert Browning was one of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century and is still considered one of the major poets of the Victorian era. He was born in 1812 and married the privately educated poet, Elizabeth Browning, in 1846. They eloped to Florence, Italy, where his wife gaveRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 182829 Words   |  12 PagesSonnet 18 too. Within My Last Duchess, love explores the submissive and possessive side effects of being completely infatuated, which similarly links with La Belle, however instead of patriarchal power, domination is shown through a woman. First Love is comparable to both Sonnets, in which love is portrayed passionately, presenting real love and the overwhelming feeling it can convey. Finally Porphyria’s Lover portrays unrequited love with a sinister background alike My Last Duchess. CONTEXT, READER