These two poems are ones that give the concept of two different men living separately and living completely different lifes. Both poems convey an thoughtful, examination profound commentary about the concept of love. These poems describe the behavior of people who are in loving, romantic relationships. But the truth is that the husbands are both controlling and jealous/ arrogant and become a problem. In this essay I will be comparing and describing the differences of “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover”.
The upper class in both poems are in control for most of it. Porphyria and the Duke are both in relationships with a class lower than themselves. Both of them loose control, this results in Porphyria dying and the Duchess dying. The Duke remains in control and so does Porphyria’s lover. This could symbolise a man’s power, both men come out on top. However there are differences in this. The first and most obvious difference is the way the two women are killed. Both women are killed by a lower class then themselves. “My Last Duchess” an assassin is hired by the Duke. Porphyria’s lover killed Porphyria. Porphyria’s lover killed her out of passion because of his love for her. The Duke had the Duchess killed because he could not lose control, and lose his male dominance “herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set her wits to yours.” He can not risk talking to her incase she rebels against him. He is extremely cold hearted and instead of talking he just hires someone to kill her.
In conclusion, both poems are very similar on many subjects, but there are also some very strong differences. In both poems, a similar structure, rhyme scheme and meter play pivotal roles in their respective poems. In both poems, differences in the settings, the characters and the tone help us understand what message Robert Browning was trying to convey to us in his poems, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess.’
