The Oxford Dictionary defines the noun mania as two things: mental illness marked by periods of excitement, delusions, and over activity; and an obsession. These terms derive from madness. The Romantics prior to the Victorians believed that solitude was a way of avoiding madness, whereas the Victorians believed the opposite - solitude brings about the birth of madness. This view was expressed within dramatic monologues.
Two of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era were Lord Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, both of whom wrote dramatic monologues. Within the following essay, it shall be shown how these two poets demonstrate madness and its consequences through dramatic monologue.
Porphyria’s Lover, a poem by Robert Browning, is presented as a dramatic monologue, showing the speaker’s madness, shown by his actions and feelings throughout one evening.
As the poem opens, he is sitting on his own, in a state of severe melancholy, watching the weather which relates to his depressed feelings. The “fury” of the “wind” subtly shows the reader what the possible outcome will be when the aforementioned Porphyria comes into his cottage. This pathetic fallacy emphasises the madness that is welling up within the narrator’s mind.
Following this pathetic fallacy, Porphyria unexpectedly “glided in” and starts to take action to cheer up her lover. “She shut the cold out”, as if to be his saviour, which subverts gender stereotypes - it is usually the male who is the saviour. In addition, she “glides” into the room which gives her angelic qualities. Thus, Browning has changed the reader’s view as to whom it is that looks after who.
As she sits beside him, she puts her arms around him, speaking to him. But the reader is immediately alerted to something being amiss. “No voice replied” to her calls of love. This could possibly be him trying to get her into a state of vulnerability, as she tries to please her lover, in order to commit the murder.
The speaker’s misery is emphasised by her actions in the prior hours. Porphyria is “took weak” to acknowledge him as her lover and is unable to “dissever” herself from her “vainer ties”. The speaker tells us that she had been going to a “gay feast” but she was unable to restrain her “passion” for him so came to his cottage, which makes the speaker believe she “worshipped” him. This is not entirely reliable though as the speaker is in a maddened state so may not be able to have a full grasp on the reality of the situation.
It is possible that she has visited him not out of love but out of pity. It is rather ambiguous whether or not she loves him after he says she “Murmur(s) how she loved (him)”. Surely, if she truly loved him she would not just be murmuring it, the murmurs meaning she does not wish to say it too loud as to make others hear, possibly to do with issues of class. It could be that Porphyria is of a higher class as she has been to a “gay feast”, whereas he is just in his little cottage, therefore being separated.
His further actions seem to become more sinister and chilling as he has “debated what to do” whilst embracing his lover. This shows that there is a glimpse of sanity as he has an internal discussion on whether or not to do the deed. In addition, it can also mean that the speaker is lackadaisical in the sense that he may not be bothered to commit the murder as he is seen to be lazy from the very start of the poem because he only sits or lays down where he is.
The mad side of himself wins the ‘internal debate’ and goes ahead with his plan. He “wound” her hair, which was “In one long yellow string” around “her little throat”. The word “wound” makes the murder seem far more gentle and casual than it should have been, giving the reader a sense that the speaker had done this before.
The glimpse of sanity is still with him as he kills Porphyria. He tries to reassure himself that the murder was pleasant, telling himself that “No pain felt she”, though there is doubt in this as he says that he is “quite sure she felt no pain”. This is a sense of his sane side trying to take over the insane side, but failing.
He concludes by trying to condone his actions, saying he has fulfilled her “one darling wish” and given her her “utmost will”.
Final evidence of this insanity may be found on the very last line: “God has not said a word!” The killing of Porphyria could be an atheistic view on things. He tries to disprove there is a God by murdering someone in the hope that he will not be struck down by some higher being. It can also be him saying that God Himself condones his actions and that it was done in love, not hatred.
