this may not be the final post, but i'll put it up anyways. I think I want to edit it a little bit more but maybe not. I'll repost the final final copy tomorrow.

Alison Muller

English 200C, F01

Beyond Boundaries

Obsession – the state of having one’s mind filled of something/someone continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent (“Obsession”). In Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover, a state of obsession is reached for Porphyria by her lover. In the beginning, he is describing a storm, blending his own torrential emotions with that of the storm. He is describing the wind as “sullen” (“2”) which reflects his own sulkiness of having to wait for Porphyria; he wants to see her sooner. This “sullen” wind is trying to “vex the lake” (“4”); he is getting slightly irritated with himself at being so impatient. This conflict of emotions is a small indicator of his obsession as he does not have a clear emotion of how he is feeling because his thoughts are revolving around when Porphyria’s finally going to arrive.

Porphyria “glide[s] in” (“6”) and makes a fire. Her lover arrived first, yet he did not make the fire. It is possible that his mind was so caught up with Porphyria that he neglected to make a fire, despite the storm raging outside. He then watches her undress, not obsessive behaviour among lovers, but when she calls to him, “no voice replied” (“15”). In the poem, he appears transfixed by her, unable to move. She moves his arm around her, “murmur[s] how she love[s] [him]” (“21”) and still he says nothing. He wants her to “give herself to [him] forever” (“25”) but he does not say anything. He does not want to scare her away because he knows that she will not sacrifice her lifestyle for him. The mood of the poem changes when she looks at him and it appears to him that “Porphyria worshipped [him]” (“33”). As the entire poem is from the perspective of the obsessed lover, the reader does not actually know if she is that much in love with him or not. If Porphyria really “worshipped” him, wouldn’t she sacrifice her lifestyle to be with him? His obsession is clouding his judgment.

Porphyria’s lover starts becoming creepily obsessive in line 36; “That moment she was mine, mine”. The repetition of the possessive pronoun highlights his obsession with her. He is at a point of no return. He can’t see life without her, he wants to preserve this perfect moment and keep her with him forever. The only solution that comes to his mind is murder. He does not murder her with a foreign object, or even with his bare hands. He winds her own hair around her throat; “All her hair/In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around” (“38-40”). To emphasize the point about his creepy obsession, he opens her eyes with her hair still wound around her neck. He describes her eyes as laughing and claims that she “blushed bright beneath [his] burning kiss” (“48”), giving her living attributes after she has died. His obsession has blinded him from the consequences of his actions. It is like he has reached a point of euphoria in his obsession and believes that what he has done is correct because, in his mind, “God has not said a word” (“60”).

Porphyria’s lover is satisfied with being with a corpse; “And thus we sit together now,/And all night long we have not stirred” (“57-58”). He wishes to be with her always. It does not matter whether she is alive or dead, just that they are together. His obsession with her drove him to commit a foul sin in order for them to be together forever.