On the Consequences of Maintaining an Obsessive Nature, Its Ability to Obscure Rational Judgments and to encourage humanity to abandon its darkest and most intimate impulses constitutes one of its most tragic aspects. Robert Browning explores this concept through his poems "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess". Following Porphyria's entry into the narrator's house in "Porphyria's Lover", she verbally affirms her love for him; as he believes that Porphyria's love will inevitably fail, the narrator then turns to murder and necrophilia in an effort to preserve this moment for which his affection seemed sincere. In the same vein, the Duke of Ferrara, at the beginning of "My Last Duchess", reveals to his visitor, whose goal is to negotiate the Duke's marriage with another family, a portrait of his ex-wife, whom he had killed. due to her inability, in her mind, to remain loyal and maintain affection towards him, Browning illustrates how the obsessive and contradictory nature inherent in both narrators dismantles their reason, encouraging them to rationalize their decisions, regardless of the extent to which they violate morality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Browning uses lustful, contradictory diction with dramatic monologue as his focus in "Porphyria's Lover" to show the underlying manic mentality. the narrator, and how he perceives his own crime as an ultimate testimony of his love towards Porphyria. In the opening lines, the narrator describes her as having “bared her smooth white shoulder…spread over everything, her yellow hair” and that she “worshipped him” (17-20, 33). The narrator's unsettling attention to the smallest details of Porphyria's sensual behavior as she undresses characterizes her as an object to satisfy his desire, which she approves of from his perspective. Following her verbal confession of affection to the narrator, the narrator strangles Porphyria with her hair (41). The narrator, in support of his personal desire for Porphyria, turns to murder the moment she declares her love in an attempt to bind her to him for eternity. This illustrates the major contradiction within the narrator, in that although he is happy to have obtained Porphyria's affections, he hates the possibility of his possible feelings towards her weakening and has chosen to preserve this ideal version of Porphyria instead of having to deal with it. potential reality. The narrator further claims that this was a fate that Porphyria herself desired (57). The narrator interpreted her assertion of devotion to him as a definitive truth that she wished to be sealed in this instance of purity; this highlights the extent to which the narrator's obsession with Porphyria has convinced him that her murder is a gesture that illustrates his love for her. Additionally, Browning uses irony in "My Last Duchess" to emphasize that although the Duke is incapable of possessing affectionate feelings toward anyone who does not meet his ideal standard, he is unable to suppress his obsession with them. In the opening lines, the Duke describes his former Duchess's painting as having "the depth and passion of her serious gaze" (7). While these comments initially suggest a positive assessment, the rest of the poem reveals these words to be ironic; they reveal the Duke's deepest bitterness and discontent with this woman because she did not sufficiently conform to his vision of perfection, and.