"Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning: Techniques

The poem "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning, is a dramatic monologue of a man who is so obsessed with Porphyria that he decides to keep her for himself. The only way he feels he can keep her, though, is by killing her. "Dripping", "struggling" - visual image and also sets the scene. Shows that the persona is watching Porphyria's every move which emphasises his obsession with her. The use of third person shows that the …

…that the persona is feeling for Porphyria. Shows how obsession has taken over him to blind him from reality and he describes her as being alive through his eyes when in fact he had murdered her. "Porphyria's love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard." Porphyria's demented lover could believe she preferred death to separation from him is testimony to his utter madness in which obsession had led him to become.