Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning“Porphyria's Lover” by Robert Browning is a poem that deals with the theme of love. However, unlike most of his Victorian contemporaries, Browning wished to challenge his readers' perceptions, in this case by driving the poem's speaker increasingly mad due to his obsessive love for Porphyria. The reader witnesses the speaker's obsession grow over the course of the poem, from sitting in the cold and dark waiting for Porphyria's arrival, to his manipulative behavior towards her, to his desire for something more than just love on his part and his possible need to possess her. Browning's skillful use of word choice and imagery throughout the monologue encourages the reader to consider some of the darker consequences of obsessive love. The scene is set in the first four lines of the poem. The speaker sits alone in his cottage by a lake while a storm rages outside. Browning uses a pathetic fallacy in these lines, using time to reflect the internal torment the speaker is experiencing. The description of the “dark wind” trying to “irritate” the lake establishes the speaker's mood. He is clearly upset that Porphyria hasn't come to meet him yet. While the speaker's feelings may be understandable at this point, the reader is warned of the violent consequences of the speaker's love. like “bull” and “spite” suggest the anger and aggression that is also building in the speaker and foreshadow the tragic events that will develop later in the poem. The speaker's negative emotions, reflected by the storm raging outside, are not what the reader would expect given his love for Porphyria. When Porphyria arrives, the mood of the poem changes dramatically. His very presence causes a dramatic mood change in speech... in the middle of reading the paper. It also confirms for the reader the dangers and consequences of obsessive love. "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning is a poem that deals with the theme of love, as the reader sees the speaker becoming more and more mad with his obsessive love for Porphyria. Browning's detailed characterization of the speaker allows the reader to see the subtle changes in his personality and his growing obsession with Porphyria. Browning clearly demonstrates how the speaker's feelings of obsessive love lead him to want to control Porphyria, which in turn becomes a desire to possess her. His feelings of obsession become more destructive when he decides to kill her to possess her. Ultimately the reader sees the tragedy of his obsession as the speaker justifies his actions by demonstrating to the reader the dark consequences of obsessive love.