Porphyria's Lover is the story of a man who kills the woman that he is secretly meeting with and then remains with the body. The meaning behind the killing is unknown to the audience although Browning gives a few hints as to what could possibly be going on. "When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm." From this passage, one can determine that this meeting was kept in secrecy. The were planning on meeting in an undisclosed location, during what appears to be in the later hours and during a storm. One can only speculate that the man and Porphyria were having an affair.
During this period in time, marriage was considered a contract that bounded man and woman together in an everlasting contract. Love was not the deciding factor on whom would marry whom. Affairs were considered even more taboo than in today's day and age so for these characters to be engaging in this act proves to be scandalous. Porphyria herself proves to be an even more scandalous woman as she tries to seduce the narrator by "calling to him", "putting his arm around her waist, moving her hair to one side thereby exposing her shoulder and laying his head on her shoulder. As she tries to seduce him, the narrator begins to unravel. "Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me forever." He is in love with her, but she cannot love him in the same way. By killing her, he is insuring that she will remain his for all eternity. She will no longer just be the object of his affection and in a sense of the word act as her "boytoy". Browning may have very well been arguing that because this couple was indeed having an affair, disaster would surely befall on them.
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