The Unity of Effect in “Porphyria’s Lover”

Edgar Allen Poe, in his essay “The Philosophy of Composition,” argues that stories, whether told in poetry or prose, must focus all of their energy on a single effect. He states that when he writes he “prefer[s] commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in view- for he is false to himself who ventures to dispense with so obvious and so easily attainable a source of interest.” (Poe “The Philosophy of Composition”) He asks himself this question: “ ‘Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the soul is susceptible, what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?’” (Poe). This theory of composition is easily identified in the majority of Poe’s fiction and poetry—Poe actually uses “The Raven” as an example in his essay. Looking at Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” in terms of Poe’s unity of effect will illuminate the full vigor of the poem’s language.

First, we need to look at one more piece of Poe’s essay. Poe explains, “Having chosen a novel, first, and secondly a vivid effect, I consider whether it can be best wrought by incident or tone- whether by ordinary incidents and peculiar tone, or the converse, or by peculiarity both of incident and tone- afterward looking about me (or rather within) for such combinations of event, or tone, as shall best aid me in the construction of the effect” (Poe). Browning uses both incident and tone. The incident, of course, is the murder of Porphyria at the hands of the speaker. The tone is that of an unreliable narrator—which, in the context of the poem, becomes the voice of a psychopath. A similar effect is achieved in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” via the tone of the narrator. Montresor, brutally and unemotionally describes how he chains Fortunado to a wall in Forunado’s own dungeon and then, brick by brick, buries Fortunado alive. The tone of the narrator is accentuated through contrast with Fortunado’s frantic screams: “It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had completed the eighth, the ninth and the tenth tier. I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in [. . .] ‘For the love of God, Montresor!’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘for the love of God!’ (Poe “The Cask of Amontillado”). Fortunado wants to believe that this is a joke, and when he realizes that Montresor really does mean to kill him, he loses his mind. The reader knows since the beginning what Montresor means to do, yet Fortunado never sees it coming. This is also a result of the narrator’s tone. He never gives the reader a good reason for why he is going to kill Fortunado. He merely tells the reader that he had been insulted by Fortunado.

There is here a second contrast: The narrator’s adamance in carrying out revenge for something that, to the reader, does not seem to warrant murder. In terms of Poe’s own philosophy, Montresor’s act falls under “peculiarity both of incident and tone” (Poe “The Philosophy of Composition). Montresor has murdered Fortunado for seemingly no reason at all, and the method by which he chooses to execute this plan is equally strange. Finally, the way in which Montresor describes the events is completely without emotion, which accentuates the feeling of dread created within the reader.

Let’s turn to Browning’s poem. The tone is established with the first four lines in a way very similar to how Poe begins his own work: “The rain set early in to-night, / The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm-tops down for spite, / And did its worst to vex the lake” (Browning 1-4). This is clearly reminiscent of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” with a very detailed image of the “lurid tarn” (Poe) at the foot of the Gothic castle. Returning to a comparison between “Porphyria’s Lover” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” it is clear that Browning’s speaker is also delusional. He (and I use “he” arbitrarily) tells the reader how Porphyria “loves” him (21) and how she “worshipp’d” him (33). The reader knows that she has come from a “gay feast” (27) and that she has perhaps chosen someone over the speaker. The speaker, in the same casual manner as Montresor in Poe’s story, tells the reader:

That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. (36-41)

The speaker’s tone creates a sense of dread in the reader. Here, we can clearly see the “peculiarity of both incident and tone” (Poe “The Philosophy of Composition). Not only is the speaker’s decision to murder Porphyria bizarre, but his method, like Montresor’s, is equally bizarre. His tone, matter-of-fact and unemotional, adds to the sense of dread within the reader.

It’s interesting that many Victorian critics had such a difficult time with Browning’s poetry while across the Atlantic, Poe garnered wild success for doing essentially the same thing. “The Cask of Amontillado” was published in 1846, five years after “Porphyria’s Lover” first appeared. I haven’t found anything regarding whether or not Poe admired Browning or even read his work, but it is interesting to see these similarities, particularly because Poe was famous for developing this philosophy, yet Browning seems to have already been practicing it.

Works Cited

Browning, Robert. “Porphyria’s Lover.” 1841. http://www.bartleby.com/101/720.html. 19 Oct 2008.

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Cask of Amontillado.” 1846. . 19 Oct 2008.

--“The Fall of the House of Usher.” 1839. . 19 Oct 2008.

--“The Philosophy of Composition.” 1850. . 19 Oct 2008.