Analysis of Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover".

In his poem, "Porphyria's Lover", Robert Browning illustrates the narrators need for power by suppressing Porphyria's thoughts and making the decision of her eternal happiness for her. The narrator is threatened by Porphyria's apparently higher social status. Only after taking Porphyria's life is the narrator experiencing the superiority he desires. Porphyria never utters a word within the poem; the reader only learns the view of the narrator. This is another indirect way the narrator is …

…the role of God. Also, by killing Porphyria, the narrator is having her all to himself, freezing the last moment they have together while Porphyria is alive. The narrator's need for power blinds him to the fact that he just murdered someone he claims he loves so much. Porphyria's silence throughout the poem illustrates his need to speak for her and therefore giving him the supreme power to kill her without God condemning his action.