Porphyria's Lover 'And My Last Duchess'

Love can cause one to perform extraordinary actions. In Robert Browning’s dramatic monologues “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess,” the two poems have many similarities, as well as differences. They are both tales of love, passion, and misery. Through the use of tone, diction, and symbolism, the speaker of each poem exemplifies his psychotic state of mind. The tone of the speaker in “Porphyria’s Lover” differs greatly than that of “My Last Duchess.” Both speakers may have the same end goals, but they present themselves in very different and unique ways. In “Porphyria’s Lover,” Porphyria and the speaker are unable to be together because of the difference in social classes, as Porphyria is unable “To set its struggling passion free / From pride, and vainer ties dissever, / And

Thus, the speaker attempts to preserve the moment by killing Porphyria, keeping her whole and pure. There is a passion that exists between them, but the speaker displays his passion in a subtle, strange, and demented way. Throughout the poem, the speaker’s tone can be described as calm, preserved, and sinister. The use of dramatic monologue allows the reader to have insight on the thoughts of the speaker. From the beginning of the poem to the end, the tone of the speaker never changes. When the reader discovers that he has killed Porphyria, his tone does not change and it seems like the speaker disregards his actions, adding an eerie and bizarre feeling. On the other hand, the speaker, the Duke of Ferrara, in “My Last Duchess” exemplifies his power, boastfulness, and control through his tone. While talking to the guest of the house, he recounts the story of the death of his last duchess by showing the guest a portrait of her, something only the speaker can see. The speaker killed her because she had “A heart–how shall I say?–too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er / She looked