AQA Love and Relationships

Porphyria's Lover Quotes3 key quotes with full analysis.

A dramatic monologue in which a deranged speaker strangles his lover to preserve a perfect moment of possession.

by Robert Browning

Context

Published in 1836 by Browning. An early dramatic monologue exploring obsessive, controlling love and madness.

All Porphyria's Lover Quotes

“That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good”
Power and ControlRomantic Love

Context: The speaker's thoughts just before he murders Porphyria.

Analysis

The repetition of "mine, mine" reveals the speaker's obsessive desire to possess Porphyria entirely. He kills her to freeze this "perfect" moment of ownership before it can change. Browning exposes how possessive love becomes deranged and murderous.

Language Techniques:

RepetitionDramatic monologuePossessive pronoun

Exam Tip

Key quote for control and toxic possession. Compare the controlling male voice with the Duke in My Last Duchess (also Browning).

“In one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around, and strangled her”
Power and ControlLoss and Absence

Context: The speaker describes murdering Porphyria with her own hair.

Analysis

The chillingly calm, methodical description ("three times") conveys the speaker's detachment and madness. Using her own "yellow string" of hair turns a symbol of beauty into the murder weapon. The diminutive "little throat" emphasises her vulnerability and his dominance.

Language Techniques:

Disturbing calm toneEnjambmentSymbolism

Exam Tip

Use for the violence of obsessive control. The matter-of-fact tone makes the murder more disturbing.

“And yet God has not said a word!”
Power and Control

Context: The final line, as the speaker sits with the corpse all night.

Analysis

The speaker interprets God's silence as approval, revealing his complete delusion and lack of remorse. The exclamation conveys a disturbing satisfaction. Browning leaves the reader with the chilling thought that the murderer feels entirely justified.

Language Techniques:

End-stopped exclamationReligious allusionDramatic irony

Exam Tip

Powerful closing quote on madness and the absence of guilt. Contrast with the guilt felt in other relationship poems.

Compare Porphyria's Lover With…

In the exam you compare two poems on a shared theme. These poems share themes with Porphyria's Lover:

When We Two PartedLord ByronLove's PhilosophyPercy Bysshe ShelleySonnet 29 - 'I think of thee'Elizabeth Barrett BrowningNeutral TonesThomas Hardy

Explore More Love and Relationships Poems

View key quotes and analysis for all 15 poems in the AQA anthology.

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