My Last Duchess

Porphyrias Lover

Activity 5 - Fiction is whats wrong with the world

Although the society back then was patriarchal, the modern society has then developed
womens rights and society as a whole is inching closer to seeing women as equals to men. In
the poem Porphyrias Lover, Porphyria gives herself to the narrator (man) and worships him.
Porphyria does many things to show the narrator that he owns her. She tells him that she went
through many troubles with her family just to be with him. The man in return strangles Porphyria
with her own hair and then proceeds to toy with her body. Although this piece of fiction seems
grim, I believe that it teaches many readers a lesson about relationships. Like many young
teenagers, Porphyria went through troubles with her family just to be with the narrator. I believe
that the author is trying to convey strong messages about the consequences of giving up family
for another man. During the Victorian period, which is when this play was written, men were
seen as superior to men and were expected to comfort men no matter what. The narrator says
that Porphyria offers her bare shoulder to him to comfort him. Although it might be fine in the
Victorian era that they had a patriarchal society but in the modern society this would most likely
not occur because of current culture of our society.