Robert Browning was a man who seemed confined to his family until he reached his thirties. I think his thoughts were stored and built up until his release and ability to write was set free by his own individuality. Browning’s style of writing, in particular “Porphyria’s Lover”, seems to be apparent to the reader as erratic thinking.
“In one long yellow string I would
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;" (p. 663)
Browning’s deep writing of this paragraph could be interpreted of his outcry he wished to express from his sheltered life as a young man. I think he felt so suppressed by his earlier childhood that he had to express his feelings through his writing. The yellow string was obviously his parents, and the girl represented the life that he so wished to break away from.
As many kids feel cooped up from overbearing parents during their early childhood,
Browning felt that the only way he could fully express himself was through his explicit writing. The outrageous nature of his writing seems to conform to insanity as people would see it in his day. He writes of murder and even that on a dark nature.
“And thus we sit together now,
And all night long we have not stirred,
And yet God has not said a word!" (p. 663)
Is Browning questioning his faith to God? I wonder if he is asking where the repercussions of his actions are or if these immoral actions are even of consequence. Browning in his writing, I think, is trying to convey to the reader why or if his adverse thoughts are wrong. He has to think that through his works his readers are going to come to a conclusion of insanity. But why? Does he do it for publicity or thought? His works are deep in his own thought. I think that Browning’s works are meant to portray the mind of youth and their different feelings they feel throughout their growth as adults.
8 comments:
I had to read over the poem again in order to see what you were talking about. I agree that it seems like Browning is trying break away from his past as do many people especially when they are going off to college. I think the frustration that he describes is something that we all go through.
I really enjoyed reading your post on Browning. I thought your interpretation of his poem was very interesting and certainly was very different from the thoughts I had on it! I think I might like your ideas better! I completely missed the metaphor of his parents and sheltered lifestyle when I was making my own assumptions on the poem. They do make a lot of sense though. It was really nice to read a different opinion on this piece since so most of the class had such similar ideas! Great blog!!
Jason,
I am afraid I fail to see any support for your reading of this poem. Your claim that "The yellow string was obviously his parents" seems ludicrously far-fetched. If Browning were so traumatized by his parents and childhood that he could not help the unconscious urges that produced this poem, as you suggest, then why are not all his poems like this one? How could he resist the powerful urges of this unconscious force in his other poems?
I enjoyed reading your post. While I came up with a slightly different interpretation, I liked how you looked at Porphyria's Lover from a different angle and saw different metaphors.
I also did not fully understand the string being his parents in the poem. My question that I've posed for everyone who has wrote on this poem is whether or not we can trust the narrator to give us what is actually going on. Is the writer stable enough to give us a reliable account of the events in the poem.
Although I had a completely different interpretation of the poem, it's interesting to see how someone else saw it.
Although I had a completely different interpretation of the poem, it's interesting to see how someone else saw it.
It was interesting to read your blog since this was my favorite poem we read, but I still find it hard to see your connections that you have made. It is my belief that Browning is in no way the speaker and has completely separated himself from the feelings in the poem. I wish you would have concentrated more on the speaker of the poem separately from Browning and analyzed what exactly was going on in his head. Not all poets only write from their own experiences.
Post a Comment