"Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" share the fact that they are both told from the murderer's point of view in a sort of monologue to the reader. This allows the murderer's description and justification to ring more acutely because the reader is literally taken along with the villains. What is already a shocking account is made even more so because we are ourselves being told it, rather than having to filter it through a third source.
             There are, however, many differences between the works. The most obvious, as is clear upon first glance, is their forms. "My Last Duchess" is a single stanza. While "Porphyria's Lover" follows a much more delicate pattern. Initially, the speakers of both works seem to have completely different personalities. The narrator of "Porphyria's Lover" clearly displays strong emotions towards Porphyria. The depth of his romantic feelings are spelled out soon enough as the speaker cries, "Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever And give herself to me forever." (22-25) On the other hand, the aristocrat of "My Last Duchess" is much colder and more formal, a man who always hated his wife's contrasting love for life.
             Just beneath the surface, however, it is clear that are similarities in the speaker's feelings towards the opposite sex, and their lovers especially. Both men display an irrational need to control their women, possessing a paranoia and jealousy that they felt trumped any desire their loves might have for themselves to the point that they are pressed to murder them. And, being as mad as both men are, they find simple, obvious justifications in their actions. The speaker of "Porphyria's Lover", claims that he simply is attempting to capture a wonderfu
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