Choose a poem that deals with a real or imaginary person or place.
Show how the person or place is introduced and how the techniques used give a convincing portrayal of that person or place.
In your answer you must refer to the text and to at least two of: characterisation, imagery, word choice, tone, or any appropriate feature.
One poem that deals with a imaginary person is 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning. The poem, in the form of a monologue, depicts a scene surrounding two lovers, with the main focus on Porphyria throughout the first thirty lines, and then on her lover in the second thirty lines. This portrays a sense of dominance of Porphyria in the first half of the poem, and conveys the speaker as submissive and victimised. Throughout the poem, Browning displays effective uses of various poetic techniques to give a convincing portrayal of the speaker - he presents himself as a victim, then suddenly murders Porphyria, with the expectation that the reader will have no objections, that the act is perfectly acceptable. The poem begins with a romantic portrayal of the lovers, and the central thematic concern appears to be love; however as the poem progresses, it becomes clear that the theme is power. This becomes more apparent as the poem goes on, with the abrupt change of mood in the change from the first half to the second half of the poem. Using this change, among other features, Browning skilfully makes use of various poetic techniques to portray the personality of the speaker and makes use of the monologue form to do so also.
One of the main features of the poem that conveys the personality of the speaker is Browning's use of rhyme and rhythm. The regular rhyme scheme ABABB throughout the poem creates a conversational tone and sets up a regular rhythm that continues throughout the poem. This creates a sense of familiarity and makes the reader feel as though the speaker is predictable. Browning adds to this already regular rhythm by displaying iambic tetrameter throughout the poem, which highlights the sense of familiarity that has developed in the poem. This use of iambic tetrameter, in addition the regular ABABB scheme, creates a sense of certainty an security, as well as making the reader feel like the speaker and the poem is predictable. Browning uses this created sense of security to highlight the madness of the speaker when he murders his lover: when he strangles her, there is no change of rhythm or rhyme and no signal from the speaker that something remotely out of the ordinary has happened:
" Three times her little throat around
And strangled her."
This reveals to the reader the true personality of the speaker, which provides a dramatic contrast to the impression of a vulnerable, victimised man that Browning had already established. In addition to this, Browning's use of enjambment creates a further sense of direct address and familiarity between the reader and the speaker, which then further highlights the fact that his rhyme and rhythm patterns do not change during the murder of his lover. This then highlights to the reader the insanity of the speaker and furthers their understanding of his personality. Browning also uses a caesura to create pause, which adds to the dramatic effect of the description of the murder created by the use of steady rhythm and rhyme.
Another of the main features contributing to the portrayal of the speaker is Browning's use of structure and content. He uses these to convey the personality of the speaker, which aids the reader in the discovery of the speaker's madness and insanity. The poem is sixty lines long, and split into two halves. These halves greatly conflict in mood and tone, which helps to convey the two conflicting halves of the speaker's personality, in addition to the sudden change of the speaker's character in the second half of the poem. In the first half of the poem, Browning introduces the speaker as a victim, and conveys the idea that Porphyria plays the dominant role in their relationship. The main indicator of this dominance is the lack of action shown by the speaker, and the fact that the majority of the first half depicts a scene of Porphyria cleaning and moving around and then says little about the speaker himself:
"she rose, and from her form
Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,
And laid her soil'd gloves by, untied
Her hat and let the damp hair fall"
This repetition of Porphyria's actions without mention of the speaker emphasises the idea that Porphyria is the main focus of the poem, and that the speaker is quite significant in it all. However, as the poem is a monologue and it is the speaker himself talking, the repetition of Porphyria's actions over his own shows the speaker considers what Porphyria does to be more interesting and more important than what he is doing. This gives the reader the impression that the speaker is quite passive and reserved, even self-pitying. In the opening lines of the poem, Browning displays pathetic fallacy, which reflects the mood of despair and self-pitying set at the start of the poem:
"The sullen wind was soon awake
It tore the elm-tops down for spite"
This also sets a sombre mood which gives the impression to the reader that the speaker is a passive victim in the relationship between him and his lover. This then aids he exploration of the central thematic concern of the power in the relationship, establishing that in this half of the poem Porphyria has the power over the speaker.
Browning then goes on to provide an extreme contrast of character in the second half of the poem, using the sudden change in mood and tone and the shift in power of the relationship from Porphyria to the speaker. Having already established the speaker as a depressed and despaired man, Browning suddenly changes the tone of the poem. This is highlighted from the very start of the second half of the poem, as the speaker opens with a command: "Be sure". These words alone represent the dominance and assertiveness that the speaker had lacked in the first half of the poem. However, as Browning had already established that the speaker was not the dominant one in the relationship, the drastic change in tone is unnatural to the reader, and conveys the idea that the speaker has no control over his change in mood. This then further conveys the idea that the speaker is mad and emphasises his madness to the speaker.
The speaker's new-found dominance is then highlighted by the re-creation of Porphyria putting the speaker's head on her chest - at the time when Porphyria was the dominant one in the relationship. The speaker re-creates this scene by putting Porphyria's head on his chest this time, and now he is the one in control. This emphasises the fact that now he is the one with the power and the dominance:
"Blush'd bright beneath my burning kiss:
I propp'd her head up as before,
Only, this time, my shoulder bore
Her head"
In these few lines, Browning also uses the repetition of the possessive pronoun 'my' to further emphasise the fact that the speaker is now the dominant one in the relationship and to portray his possessive and maniac character. Browning also uses the alliteration of the plosive 'b' sound to convey the idea of strength and violence with the harshness of the line. This further conveys the speaker's contrasting mood as violent and impulsive and emphasises the difference in character from the first half of the poem to the second half of the poem, showing just how deranged and insane he really is.
By the use of these techniques, in addition to the clever exploitation of the monologue form, Browning successfully portrays the character of the speaker. From the beginning of the poem, Browning introduces the speaker as a disturbed character, and through the skills shown throughout the poem, he goes into more depth of the personality of the speaker and gives a truly convincing portrayal of the speaker.
