In both Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess, Robert Browning portrays destructively possessive male roles, as well as violence and passion. In her book Robert Browning, Isobel Armstrong states that Browning wanted to portray a “sophisticated analysis” of insanity by describing these men and their need to entirely possess their significant others (265). Browning was born in London in 1812 to “fairly liberal” parents who were involved in his “education” and “personal growth” (Cocola 1). He attended college at London University but did not complete his education there (Armstrong xvi). He was married in secret to Elizabeth Barrett in 1846 and stayed with her till her death in 1861 (Armstrong xix). He and Elizabeth had one child in 1849 that they named Robert Wiedmann Barrett.
There are many unanswered questions regarding why Robert Browning focused on possession in many of his poems. Did he believe in this idea of complete domination of women since it was so pronounced in much of his poetry? Perhaps Browning intended this ambiguity so that we would look at poetry “as if one should be ignorant of nothing concerning the scent of violets, except the scent itself” (Corson viii).
Works Cited
Abrams, M. H., ed 7. The Norton Anthology of Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2000. 1352-53.
Allingham, Philip V. The Victorian Web. 14 May 2001. Lakehead University 13 March 2003.
Armstrong, Isobel. Writer’s and Their Background Robert Browning. Athens, Ohio: Ohio
University Press. 1975.
Browning, Robert. “Porphyria’s Lover.” Abrams 1349-50.
Browning, Robert. “My Last Duchess.” Abrams 1352-53.
Cocola, Jim. SparkNotes on Browning’s My Last Duchess and Porphyria’s Lover. 13
March 2003.
Corson, Hiram LL.D. An Introduction To The Study Of Robert Browning’s Poetry. Boston:
D. C. Heath & CO. 1900.
Dupras, Joseph A. “Browning’s “My Last Duchess”: Paragon and Parergon.” Papers on
Language & Literature. Winter96, Vol.32 Issue 1, p3, 18p. Academic Search Elite. Ebsco. 2003. 13 March 2003.
Maxwell, Catherine. “Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover.” Browning, Robert – Criticism &
Interpretation; CRITICISM. Explicator, Fall93, Vol. 52 Issue 1, p27, 4p 1993. Academic Search Elite. 2003.
Ross, Catherine. “Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover.” Explicator. Winter2002, Vol. 60 Issue 2,
P68, 5p Academic Search Elite. 2003.
Currently there are no comments related to "Browning and Possession: An Analysis of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess". You have a special honor to be the first commenter. Thanks!
Welcome to Authspot, the spot for creative writing.
Read some stories and poems, and be sure to subscribe to our feed!
