e cold out, she kneels by the fire, making it “ blaze up, and all the cottage warm”. The setting outside describes the lover’s mood which is gloomy and intense. His descriptions present a scene that shows he admirers her and finds her warmth appealing. His dedication of love is expressed in her gesture as she made her way through the storm to be with him. His mood is better expressed as he describes his love for her as “ happy’ and “proud” because he knows that she worships him, but is “too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor”. He loves her deeply but is fearful and disgusted because she is too vain to marry him.The unnamed man’s love is plagued by his class discrimination and this prejudice prevent Porphyria from marrying him. The description in the poem establish that she is of upper class status, and this is the heart of the poem, class conflict. Porphyria arrives at the cottage from a “gay feast”, well dressed, “and all her yellow hair displaced”. As she enters the cottage and eventually sits down, she is in control as “ she put my arm about her waist” and “ stooping, made my cheek lie there. He refers to the way her hair falls upon her shoulder regarding it as seductive and animosity as her vanity envelops her.Porphyria’s lover possessive and angry side shows as he debates what to do about love he longs for. Mrs. Maxwell tries to convey that he is not a man without The owning of this woman and this very true. He want to own and possess her and her love as something “ pure and good”. She sees the love they share as nothing but a fling, for she will never lose her status for it. This only enrages him and at “ that moment she was mine, mine”. His statement is of longing to own and control what he cannot have, Porphyria and her love.The longing for Porphyria’s eternal love and her refusal to ...
