Desire & Relationships
“Porphyria’s Lover” — Robert Browning (1836)
Browning’s dramatic monologue presents a deeply disturbing speaker who murders his lover Porphyria to preserve the perfect moment of her devotion. The poem opens with pathetic fallacy: “The rain set early in tonight, / The sullen wind was soon awake.” The storm mirrors the speaker’s inner turmoil. When Porphyria arrives, she brings warmth and light: she “made the cheerless grate / Blaze up.”
The speaker realises that Porphyria truly loves him: “That moment she was mine, mine, fair, / Perfectly pure and good.” The repetition of “mine” reveals his possessiveness. He then strangles her with her own hair: “I found / A thing to do, and all her hair / In one long yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around, / And strangled her.” The casual, matter-of-fact tone is chilling. He shows no remorse: “And yet God has not said a word!” — he believes God approves, or at least does not object.
Browning uses the dramatic monologue to expose the speaker’s distorted logic: he murders Porphyria to “preserve” her love. The repetition of “mine” reveals possessiveness, the calm tone reveals psychopathy, and the final line suggests he believes himself justified. Desire here is controlling, violent, and fatal.
“The Farmer’s Bride” — Charlotte Mew (1916)
Mew’s dramatic monologue presents a farmer whose young wife is terrified of him and of physical intimacy. The farmer married her young: “Three Summers since I chose a maid.” The word “chose” suggests she had no say — marriage as transaction, not partnership. When she ran away, the villagers caught her “like a hare” — the simile reduces the wife to a hunted animal.
The wife is described through nature imagery: “like a mouse,” “Shy as a leveret,” “Her eyes, her hair, her hair!” The farmer’s desire is unrequited — she fears him, and he cannot bridge the gap. The final stanza shifts to desperate, almost threatening desire: “Oh! my God! the down, / The soft young down of her, the brown, / The brown of her — her eyes, her hair, her hair!” The fragmented, breathless repetition suggests his self-control is breaking. Mew leaves the ending ambiguous and ominous.
Nagra presents a joyful, playful depiction of desire in a British-Indian marriage. The speaker is a young Sikh shopkeeper who neglects his father’s shop to be with his new wife upstairs. The poem is full of humour and energy: “my bride / she effing at my mum / in all di colours of Punjabi.” The phonetic English (“di” for “the”) creates a distinctive dialect voice that blends Punjabi and English.
The desire here is healthy, mutual, and joyful — a complete contrast to Browning and Mew. The couple share food and domestic life: “vee share in chapatti / vee share in di chutney.” The mundane domestic detail (chapattis) is presented with the same delight as his bride herself: “my bride / she hav a red crew cut / and she wear a Tartan sari.” The moon arrives only in the closing dialogue, where the bride asks each night what the moon would cost and the speaker answers that it is “priceless” — she is worth more than anything he could price. Nagra celebrates multicultural British identity and presents desire as fun, equal, and life-affirming.
Three poems, three types of desire: Browning’s is possessive and fatal, Mew’s is frustrated and potentially dangerous, and Nagra’s is mutual, playful, and life-affirming. The exam often asks about “how desire is presented” — these three provide powerful contrasts.
Browning vs Mew: Both use dramatic monologues to reveal speakers whose desire is controlling. Both objectify women. But Browning’s speaker acts (murder); Mew’s is still restraining himself (the ending is ambiguous). Both expose how patriarchal power distorts desire.
Browning vs Nagra: Maximum contrast — Browning’s desire is possessive, violent, and one-sided; Nagra’s is mutual, joyful, and equal. Browning’s woman is silenced (literally killed); Nagra’s wife is loud, funny, and independent.
Mew vs Nagra: Both present marriage, but Mew’s is a prison (the wife is trapped) and Nagra’s is a celebration (the couple choose each other). Mew’s wife is silent and animal-like; Nagra’s wife is vocal and vibrant.