I need help with my research paper. I already wrote the entire paper and I ran out of ideas. I already submitted my draft one and my teacher made some comments on them. feel free to add more reference
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Draft 2
“Porphyria’s Lover” a poem by Robert Browning about a man, who was so much in love with a lady call “Porphyria”, which is also a name of an illness. The man was so much in love with Porphyria and the only way he could he could make the memory of their love last was to kill his lover. Though “Porphyria’s Lover” is successful being about a mad man, its failed to persuade the complexity of character of Porphyria. The title of the poem, Porphyria’s sensitivity to light, the color and length of her hair, muscle weaknesses and paleness of skin demonstrates that the poem is about an illness rather than a tragic love story of a mad man. The death of Porphyria should be considered as the end of her pain and suffering rather than a horrific murder.
"Porphyria's Lover" was first published in the Monthly Repository under the title "Porphyria" in 1836, when Robert Browning was a young, aspiring poet. In 1842, this early dramatic monologue was included in the collection "Bells and Pomegranate" with the companion piece, "Johannes Agricola in Meditation" in a section of the book titled "Madhouse Cells" (Devi, 2006). The basic form of his dramatic monologues is a first-person narrator who presents a highly subjective perspective on a story, with Browning's message coming out not through the text but through the ironic disconnect of what the speaker justifies as his action towards his lover and what is obvious to the audience. "Porphyria's Lover," presents an increasingly unstable speaker who describes a perverse murder he committed with seeming impunity. The poem is about a man, the speaker, who fell in love with a woman named Porphyria, whom he later murdered. Most critics see this poem as the depiction of female sexuality, obsession of a madman, in medical point of view as an illustration to a disease called Porphyria.
Though the poem seems to be about an insane love affair, the timeline between the publication of the poem and the discovery of the disease “Porphyria” made the poem to be about the disease. Throughout the poem “Porphyria’s lover” Browning made some commentaries which reflect the symptoms of the disease porphyria. Porphyria disorder was discovered back in the mid-1700s (J.T Best, Porphyria's Lover), well before Browning wrote "Porphyria's Lover." It can be argued that Browning used this deadly disease as inspiration in the description of Porphyria and her lover. When the disease was first discovered in mid 1700s, it was called “Porphyrin”. “The term “porphyrin” comes from the Greek word, porphyus, meaning reddish-purple”, (Dickson, 2002). “Porphyria” also means purple in Greek. People suffering from porphyria excrete purple colored urine. That’s how it got its name. This is pretty similar to the title “Porphyria Lover,” which was first called “Porphyria” when Browning published the poem in 1836. The first title makes the poem about the victim, Porphyria. The speaker of the poem isn't even alluded to in the original title. “The final title, "Porphyria's Lover," makes the poem about the speaker, but he's only identified through his relationship to Porphyria” (Timko, Celebrating Robert Browning). This suggests that the poem was initially about Porphyria, the disorder, since the timeline between the discovery of the disease and the changing of the title to shift the focus of the poem. In the 1842 volume, the work appeared as one of two poems sharing the title “Madhouse Cells." When the title was changed that’s when the poem became an exhilarating love story given from a lunatic's point of view. But the initial title “Porphyria” the poem was inspired by the disease, base on the symptoms presented in the lines of the poem which are the symptoms of the disease and the timeline.
.Lines for the poem are clear evidence that Browning’s inspiration of the poem was from the disease itself. “The rain set early in to-night”(Browning 1), “She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate, Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; Which done, she rose, and from her form, Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, And laid her soiled gloves by, untied ,Her hat and let the damp hair fall”(Browning 8-12 ), People suffering from porphyria are sensitive to light especially during treatment. Light is one of the factors which triggers the illness. People with porphyria generally are sensitive to light especially those with cutaneous porphyria (Kukathas, “Critical Essay”). This explains why Porphyria arrived at night despite the weather and time. When Porphyria arrived at her lover’s house, she immediately lights the fire to warm up the room. But the strange thing is she had her clothes on throughout the process of lighting the fire. She even had her soiled gloves on, including her heart which she later took off after lighting the fire. This is uncomfortable, lighting the fire whiles with hands covered with damp gloves, this makes the process difficult as water and fire don’t go together. This further suggests that Porphyria is suffering from porphyria. Because porphyria patients are not only sensitive to natural light like the sun, they also sensitive to artificial light as well. Reactivity to the sun and sometimes artificial light, causing burning pain; Sudden painful skin redness (erythema) and swelling (Kukathas, “Critical Essay”). Porphyria tried to protect herself as much as she could in order to prevent skin damage from direct contact with light.
Excessive hair growth and hair pigmentation are one of the characteristics of people with porphyria. “And all her yellow hair displaced, and spread, o'er all, her yellow hair, A thing to do, and all her hair, in one long yellow string I wound, three times her little throat around” (Browning 16, 18,39,) The color yellow was used her three times in reference to Porphyria’s hair. It is also this golden hair that he strangles her with. It seemed almost like a fixation for this hair, or rather this color of hair. One of the symptoms of porphyria is repigmentation of grey hair. Repigimentation of grey hair is rare but has been described in several clinical settings. It has most often been reported as a post inflammatory effect, but several drugs, chronic arsenic exposure and coeliac disease have also been cited in addition to darkening as a spontaneous with porphyria cutanea tarda. (Timoko,2002) The mechanism for this regimentation remains elusive, but presumably involves recruitment of outer root sheath melanocytes, which are then activated to form functional hair bulb melanocytes. This also cause excessive growth of hair. This explains the yellow color of Porphyria and the length of her hair, which enable her lover to wound three times around her throat.
Porphyria is associated with constant pain, which is suggest that it limited the lover’s ability to do things. “Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor, to set its struggling passion free” (Browning). Muscle pain, tingling, numbness, weakness or paralysis. This is due to nerve supply of the muscle. The speaker is letting the reader know that there is something wrong with Porphyria. She loves the speaker and wants to be sexually involved, "to set (her)heart's struggling passion free," but she is too weak to do so (J.T. Best "Porphyria's Lover"). That Porphyria's weakness is of some duration is evident from the fact that, notwithstanding her condition, she still sometimes gave herself to the speaker anyway.
It is evident that her weakness is caused by an illness because the speaker is jolted to reality with a "A sudden thought of one so pale” (Browning 21). Paleness generally is linked to a loss of blood and also a sign of sickness before someone vomits (Devi, “Literary Contexts in Poetry”). " That she is "pale" is a fundamental diagnosis regarding an underlying medical condition. Paleness is associated with lack of enough oxygen in the body.
The speaker then mentions of his awareness regarding just how much Porphyria loves and worship's him and how the strength of that affection made his love deepen. “For love of her, and all in vain,” The "love" referred to in this line obviously belongs to the speaker, but why is it "all in vain"? What reason other than Porphyria's failing health could render his love to be "all in vain"? Timing is everything and the fact that it was during this "all in vain" perception that the speaker was debating what to do. “Porphyria worshiped me: surprise, made my heart swell, and still it grew, While I debated what to do.” (Browning 33-35) it was during that moment of awareness that he spontaneously conceived the manner of her death, which is described as “I found, A thing to do, and all her hair, in one long yellow string I wound, Three times her little throat around,” (Browning 37-40). The fact that he just "found" a thing to do attests to the spontaneity of the act, which ended his debate. He had discovered the means to take her life were at hand. It was obviously an answer for which he had been searching. “The consequences confirm the fact that the taking of Porphyria's life was not done with hate, anger or revenge in mind,” (J.T. Best "Porphyria's Lover"). The word "found" also shouts loudly for the fact that her forthcoming death had, not only been under consideration, it was an inevitable conclusion with only the means left remaining to be decided upon.
The tragedy continues to build within the aftermath because following her death by virtue of his deeds he has serious trouble letting go, “No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain, I warily oped her lids: again, Laughed the blue eyes without a stain” (Browning 41-45). He "warily" opened her eyes, they were beautiful blue eyes, beautiful because he still saw the woman he loved, and they were "laughing" because they were content with the events that had just transpired. “The happiness concept is reinforced because the "eyes" [are]without stain” (Devi, “Literary Contexts in Poetry”),which means that within the last look cast upon her murderer, her eyes saw no blame. Quite notably the "laughing eyes" are revealed before he releases the tress from around her neck, which is extremely significant fact. Important because with the final seconds of her life Porphyria recognized her death was in the making and used her last act of will to put a smile on her face. That can only be because she is pleased about death being on its way. What else could the head of a murder victim be smiling about other than the act of her death being of her own wanting? We all know of the horror seen and said to be on the faces of victims whose peril is at the hands of an evildoer. Thus, the smile is telling because the face of fear is far less likely to accompany one meeting a desired end. Remember Porphyria "worshipped" the speaker. If he were a madman, like most suggest, then why would there be a smile upon her face instead of shock or horror? Within the last few seconds of life, which facial expression would more likely erupt from the spontaneous act of being strangled by someone you worship? Shock, of course, certainly not a "smiling rosy little head"(Browning). Then the speaker kisses her cheek again, a kiss that contains all the love a kiss can possibly possess because it is said to be a "burning kiss". Then he sits for a while with her "smiling rosy little head” resting upon his shoulder. This behavior does not portray that of a madman.
Porphyria's death is the result of euthanasia is further manifest from the following lines near the poem's end and which, quite literally, makes the case, “Porphyria's love: she guessed not how, her darling one wish would be heard” (Browning 56-57). It was her "darling one wish" that she dies. It was also her wish that she not knows how that wish would be fulfilled (Dickson, “Masterplots II: Poetry”). The word "darling" punctuates the wish, and renders it a very special wish indeed, a one of a kind type of wish. And since "she" guessed not how, the speaker tells us that it was also her desire to not know when her one wish would be fulfilled. The speaker's true and massive love for Porphyria is exampled by him sitting with her in his arms, “And all night long we have not stirred” (Browning, line 59) He loves her so much that he cannot release her from his grasp. He must and has indeed chosen to sit within the field of the painful emotion that his act of granting her last wish burdened him with.
The last line shows the speaker's perception that the propriety of the act of killing Porphyria was such a right thing to do that "God has not said a word!” (Browning 50). The word "God" has been touted by many as a means to attach some religious significant to the poem, which I suggest is not at all the case. “The "God" referred to is that of a rhetorical God to emphasize that what the speaker had to do was so morally correct” (Dickson, “Masterplots II: Poetry”). Which means that a God of any sort from any religion would not be judgmental.
Browning’s work is a clear representation of the disease porphyria. . Symptoms of Porphyria's disease are repeatedly described within the poem by Browning, e.g. blood loss(pale), muscle weakness and light sensitivity, which explains the time and why she arrived late. Victims of Porphyria's disease suffer a horrible death. Porphyria's lover, the speaker, committed the highest act of love, he set his lover free from a horrific death. He ended all her pain and suffering as she is about to face more challenges of this awful disease. He was not questioned by God of his action and hence believed it was the right thing to do, to get Porphyria out of her constant misery.
Work Cited
Best, J.T. “Porphyria's Lover.” "Porphyria's Lover" - Vastly Misunderstood Poetry, 4 Sept. 2006, “GCSE Bitesize English Literature - Robert Browning: Porphyria's Lover: Revision.” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetry_wjec/treatmentofwomen/porphyriaslover/revision/1/.
Devi, Gayatri. "Literary Contexts in Poetry: Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover." Literary Contexts in Poetry: Robert Browning's 'Porphyria's Lover', Sept. 2006, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lkh&AN=23184809&site=lrc-plus.
Dickinson, Carolyn F. "Porphyria’s Lover." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition, January 2002, pp. 1-3. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=lkh&AN=103331POE19880051000255&site=lrc-plus.
Kukathas, Uma. "Critical Essay on 'Porphyria's Lover'." Poetry for Students, edited by Anne Marie Hacht, vol. 15, Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.tjc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/H1420040739/GLS?u=txshracd2586&sid=GLS&xid=a04fa927. Accessed 7 Apr. 2018.
Timko, Michael. "Celebrating Robert Browning." World & I, vol. 27, no. 5, May 2012, p. 2. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=f5h&AN=77738782&site=ehost-live.
