Controlling the males in Browning's Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess The death of the beloved woman is the only way thought possible by insecure and possessive male to capture her undivided attention. This beloved woman represents the "reflector and guarantor of male identity. Thus, male anxiety over the woman's independence for her freedom puts her male self-esteem at risk" (Maxwell 29). The jealous and controlling males of Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" possess a fervent desire to fix and monopolize their beloved women without strings attached. Due to the fear of death, both speakers attempt to gain control and deny the loss of the object; by turning their lovers (once subjects) into objects, they ultimately gain the role of masterful subjects. In the poem “The Lover of Porphyria,” the lover begins by describing the scene unfolding to an unidentified listener: “and from her form / Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, / And laid aside the dirty gloves, untied / The hat and let her damp hair fall" (10-13). The lover, left alone in the house, recounts the events of the dark and stormy evening in which he anxiously awaits "with a breaking heart" the entrance of his beloved Porphyria. “Evidently, his absence is due to his participation in a 'gay feast,' one of the 'vain liaisons' which Porphyria supposedly cultivated” (Magill 338). When he finally arrives, he tells the reader, "he sat by my side / And called to me. When no voice answered" (14-15). Porphyria speaks to him, "murmuring how she loved him" while the lover watches silently, becoming the mastered object to be caressed and "loved." However, when he looks into her eyes, he knows that she loves him: "at last I knew / Porphyria adored...... middle of paper ......ners of the lover and the Duke. Fearing the final After losing the life, both murderers attempt to overpower their female subjects; they transform their objects of desire into wondrous objects that can never be lost, simultaneously achieving the role of masterful subjects. Works Cited Ingersoll, Earl G. "Lacan, Browning, and the Murderous." Voyeur: "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess." Victorian Poetry 28 (1990): 151-157.Marchino, Lois A. "My Last Duchess." Masterplots II: Poetry Series Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 4. Pasadena: Salem, 1443-1445. Maxwell, "Browning's Lover." Domhnall. "Browning's My Last Duchess." Explicator 50 (1992): 74-75. Robert Browning." Critical Inquiry into Poetry: English Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. vol. 1. Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1982. 338, 341.