The Criminal Mind Of Robert Browning
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The Criminal Mind of Robert Browning
The criminal mind of Robert Browning is depicted in three of his poems. The poems are “My Last Duchess”, “Porphyrias Lover”, and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”. These poems show secretly how Robert Browning uses characters to express his criminal thoughts. Browning considered the ethics of an act only as it has affected the person making the act for good or ill, without regard to the evil brought upon others (Crowell 13). Browning does not consider the thoughts and feelings of others because his mind is so corrupt. “Brownings poems are an attempt to examine many kinds of neurotic or insane behavior, and in particular the pathology of sexual feeling”
(Ross 1). The poems “My Last Duchess”, “Porphyrias Lover”, and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” will show Brownings corrupt criminal mind.
The poem “My Last Duchess” is one of Brownings most famous works. Throughout this poem, Browning shows readers a strong side of his criminal mind. Browning expresses his feelings through the main character of the poem, the Duke of Ferrara.
In this poem the Duke hates his wife. The Duke seems to have paranoia about all aspects of her. One reason the Duke hates his wife is because of his life and happiness. He was made happy too soon. The Duke felt that the Duchess had nothing more to offer him. Another reason for his hatred could have been because of her looks. The Duke was jealous of her (Karlin 200). A last possible reason for his hatred is that he did not trust her. He thinks she has cheated on him (Karlin 204-205). Browning tells the readers:
” She thanked men – good! how thanked
Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybodys gift…” (31- 34)
Through this excerpt from “My Last Duchess” it is clear that the Duke is suspecting his wife of having sex with other men. This can be seen through the tone in which the Duke takes in these lines. For example, his explanation of good and his statement of “I know not how – as if she ranked” and the usage of the word “gift” can all be seen as sexual exploits.
“In this poem, the Duke is a complex figure because his hatred of his wife is itself a mode of desire” (Karlin 204). “Murder is the logical outcome of the Dukes dilemma. Or murder is the logical means of achieving the outcome which the Duchess has denied to him in life” (Karlin 200-201). The Duke lived his life to despise his wife. The Duke felt that he wanted more than his wife had to offer him.
Browning decides that the only outcome for this poem would be for the Duke to kill his wife. “The Duke would not have wanted to give his name to the Duchess had she not been the kind of person whose indiscriminate erotic joy would cause him to murder her” (Karlin 203). The Duke would not have ever married the Duchess if she had not made him sexually happy.
In the poem “Porphyrias Lover”, Robert Browning uses his criminal mind. “Standard reading of this monologue is that the narrator, Porphyrias unnamed lover, has murdered her in order to posses her completely, or perhaps, to freeze in time the moments of perfect devotion” (Ross 1). No matter which reasons the narrator gives for killing his lover, it does not explain why he did not kill himself.
Browning again uses this poem to show his sexual feelings. In the poem, “Porphyrias lover does not murder her because he feels the act of murder to be like sexual intercourse but in order to achieve a balance of power in his relationship with her” (Maxwell 1). Before the lover kills Porphyria, Browning writes:
“…at last I knew
Porphyria worshipped me; surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I decided what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good…” (12-17)
Browning describes that Porphyrias lover felt that in order to be equal to her he had to kill her. This excerpt expresses