orphyria is when he states that her love for him "made my heart swell, and still it grew" (34). This illustrates to the reader his continually growing love and adoration of Porphyria.
             In this way, both men are shown as feeling intense and sincere emotion for their significant others, and are similarly depicted in this respect.
             In the way that the two characters feel deep eternal love for their partners, they are also similar in the way that they would be willing to do anything for them. In The Time-Traveler, Tom is thrilled when he is finally given a month long sabbatical from his work as a minister. Tom and Mary each have a separate proposal of where they would like to vacation until Tom states "when a minister's wife begins to tell him about missionary zeal, it is time to capitulate" (Robinson 39). Tom agrees to spend the month in a "little fly-speck banana republic called Pasala" (39), and therefore forfeits his own intentions and interests for those of his wife's. The speaker in "Porphyria's Lover" is willing to do a similar deed for Porphyria herself. The speaker is willing to take Porphyria's life from her so that they can spend eternity together. In the speakers mind, unfortunately, this is an honourable act. He loves her so much and is so desperate to be with her that he is willing to end her physical existence on earth in order to be able to remember Porphyria in the state she is presently in, forever. In this way, Tom illustrates to the reader his readiness to fulfill his wife's desires, and the speaker shows his willingness to be at his love's beckon call, though this may not be an agreeable form of presenting one's love for another to most people.
             Another manner in which Tom and the speaker are similar is in the way each has external forces blocking the lovers from each other. For both characters, external forces in their lives continue to pro...