124 -she enters happily -joyful mood -does this make him angry?

she = well off, upper class woman

Porphyria's Lover The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, nature=reflection of the human soul And did its worst to vex the lake: nature=storm = agitated, angry, furious (trees topple, white caps on lake) I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, he is depressed and then who comes Porphyria makes And kneeled and made the cheerless grate him angry why? Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; Which done, she rose, and from her form she enters house, goes to fireplace and starts a fire, how would you feel if I enter your house, which has all the lights off, and Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, turn on all of the lights = invasion of privacy, also, she knows And laid her soiled gloves by, untied where everything is = been there before, finally, she comes in Her hat and let the damp hair fall, and does what she wants = who wears the pants in this And, last, she sat down by my side relationship? = shes in control! And called me. When no voice replied, She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare, Where does he live? Cottage out in woods by lake rich people live in the city = he is probably of the lower class And all her yellow hair displaced, What is a rich woman doing with a poor man? Why are they And, stooping, made my cheek lie there, engaging in intercourse? She is using him for enjoyment! And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair, Murmuring how she loved me she Murmuring He loves her, wants to marry her, she doesnt Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor, love him, she just wants to have a fun time = why he is sad, To set its struggling passion free depressed, and angry From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me forever. -Porphyria went to dinner party; she got a hankering and then But passion sometimes would prevail, traveled through the woods to see our insane narrator Nor could tonight's gay feast restrain -her actions are not motivated by love = anger narrator A sudden thought of one so pale For love of her, and all in vain: -we know that the narrator eventually kills her, and one of the So, she was come through wind and rain. oddities of life are: if you kill someone, with the exception of selfBe sure I looked up at her eyes defense, you are insane Happy and proud; at last l knew -here our narrator shows this by calling her pure Porphyria worshiped me: surprise -she is a well of women with a husband and probably kids, but she Made my heart swell, and still it grew have urges that need to be met show she hooks up w/ narrator, While I debated what to do. now that is not really pure or good 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 l wound Kills her by suffocation Three times her little throat around, WHY?

-Much like Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister we have an unreliable narrator -Title: Porphyrias LOVER = they engaged in the dance without pants (lover has a slight connotation of cheating w/ him) -When reading, many possible stories, but what was their relationship and why did he kill her is decided by the story w/ most contextual support = MOTIVE

125 And strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily oped her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a stain. And l untightened next the tress About her neck; her cheek once more Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss: I propped her head up as before, Only, this time my shoulder bore Her head, which droops upon it still: The smiling rosy little head, So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love, am gained instead! Porphyria's love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard. And thus we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word! Unfortunately, TV/movies dont accurately display murder, strangling someone to death is not a quick or easy thing to do. If I pay to $100 a second, how long could you hold your breath, at the very least 40 some seconds, but most people can easily last 3-5 minutes. You have to hold pressure on the windpipe for a long time, not to mention, their hands, arms, legs, and feet are all free and probably attacking you. Before you die, you will probably black out, and the murder (or soon-to-be) must continue to hold pressure and choke victim because their still not dead, so by saying she felt no pain is an example of his insanity, along with him making out with and cuddling with her dead body, but I prefer not to elaborate on any other social norms (and laws) he is breaking. context of their talks: narrator: will you marry me? Porphyria: I want to, BUT there is my SES compared to yours, and my husband, and kids, and wigga, wigga, wigga so lets engage in intercourse (yes thats a direct quotation) -He says that he catches a glimpse in her eye (quotation above) and it was lust, but he is insane, love-stricken, angry, depressed, etc. and he mistaken it a love. -This means that she wants to stay with him forever -In his crazy, insane, etc. mind = killing her gave her what she wanted (to be with him = now she cant leave)(LOL, bet you she never thought she knew what she wanted ((lovely Robert Browning humor)))

WHY?

-moral lesson to everyone: I killed someone, and a giant gaping hole didnt open up dragging me to Hell, or I didnt get struck by lightning, etc. = I got away with it! God must have been busy watching Lowell instead of me! -illo tempore -immediate punishment/retribution for actions is not how God works, we dont understand it, so Browning puts it in the most absurd place to show us how ignorant weve been

Advice: lying to a crazy, love-stricken, insane man=not a good idea

*** As mentioned earlier, Robert Browning has only gained fame recently, why is that? b/c the Victorians were not instated in the way the mind works, it seemed pointless and stupid to them, put todays culture is far more interested and sees value in this form of literature, so in short, Robert was born 200 years to early. ***