Rhetorical Devices in Porphyria's Lover

When Porphyria arrives, her lover is sitting in a dark, cold room as a storm rages outside. He is unresponsive even to his own name. This should strike the audience as odd. However, because of the romantic imagery and focus the speaker places on his lover rather than his feelings, the reader may not notice his behavior is odd the first time they encounter these lines. The careful reader will see that there is something peculiar about this speaker.

Much like Browning’s famous poem My Last Duchess, “Porphyria’s Lover” takes the form of a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem in which an imagined narrator describes a particular situation or series of events and inadvertently reveals aspects of their own character. The speaker in a dramatic monologue is generally suspicious as they are not immediately forthcoming with aspects of their personality or actions.