Subverting Traditional Gender Roles In 'Porphyria's Lover'

Browning similarly aims to subvert traditional beliefs - only this time of madness being an inherently female characteristic - in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ it seems that traditional gender roles have been reversed in that Porphyria and her partner is entitled as her “lover”. In this sense, the ownership is put completely on her because Browning has chosen to entitle the poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, using a possessive apostrophe. However, throughout the poem, the emphasis is put on her lover, rather than Porphyria, this, therefore, nullifies any preconceptions that Porphyria is the central character, as, after all, it is the actions of the lover that bring about the events of the poem. For example, the lover reveals himself to be obsessed with and angry at Porphyria for not making him her primary and only love: “Murmuring how she loved me—she/ Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavour,/ To set its struggling passion free/ From pride, and vainer ties dissever,/ And give herself to me for ever.” Phrases such as “murmuring” and “too weak” have negative connotations, hinting at the inherent fragility of women and also implying the anger that the lover feels towards Porphyria for not being only his, foreshadowing the later rash action of murder.