Porphyria's Lover Vs Cloister

The narrators of “Porphyria’s Lover” and “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” are both mad, but the madness manifests itself differently. Both narrators act irrationally towards one person, and that person becomes an object of their wrath. However, the narrator’s madness in “Porphyria’s Lover” ends in violence, while the monk’s madness in “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” manifests itself in an irrational hatred of a fellow monk. While the depictions of madness differ in how they are displayed, the madness of both narrators has the same cause. Browning’s depictions of madness in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” stemmed from a sense of inferiority that the narrators feel in relation to the people at which their wrath is aimed. …show more content…
The narrator expresses the hopelessness he feels at this class difference when he says “Nor could tonight’s gay feast restrain/A sudden thought of one so pale/For love of her, and all in vain” (L27-29). The narrator was not at the “gay feast” which suggests that he is not of the same class as Porphyria. The suggestion of a class difference is supported because the narrator suggests that the thought of this party should be keeping him from thinking of Porphyria as someone he loves. He feels inferior to Porphyria because of this class