Robert Browning 1812-1889

“How sad and bad and mad it was - / But then, how it was sweet!”

(Confessions)

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

Childhood• Born in Camberwell, London in

1812• Wealthy, middle class family

(father – extensive book collection; mother – passion for music)

• Encouraged by his parents, he was well versed in Greek and Latin, and an accomplished musician, from a young age

• His mother was a non-conformist* and both parents were evangelical

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

‘Non-conformist’• Someone who did not belong to an Anglican church• Until 1828, Non-conformists were ineligible for

many forms of public educational and social benefits, e.g. acceptance at university (until University College of London – the first university to be established on a secular basis and admit students regardless of religion or gender – was formed in 1826)

Browning disliked school so much that he was educated privately at home, using his father’s books as resources. He was a great admirer of the Romantic poets and, for a time, followed Shelley’s example and became an atheist and vegetarian. He studied Greek at UCL when he was 16 but stayed only one year. His non-conformist background meant he could not study at Oxford or Cambridge.

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

‘Dedicated to poetry’

• Refused a formal career and stayed at home, supported by his parents, until he was 34

• His father sponsored the publication of his poems

Browning first travelled to Italy in 1834. The initial aim was to help him write Sordello, a long narrative poem he published in 1840, but the country made a deep impression on him. He returned again in 1844 and several of his poems are clearly influenced by the country, especially those of Dramatic Romances and Lyrics.

Italy

Art

ArchitectureFollow in the footsteps of his Romantic heroes – Byron and Shelley

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

1844, Italy: Browning first reads Poems by Elizabeth Barrett.

• Six years his elder• Lived as a semi-invalid with her father in

London• "I love your verses with all my heart,

dear Miss Barrett“ – she and Browning struck up a friendship via letters

• They finally met in 1845 and fell in love

A secret courtship

Her father had forbidden marriage for any of his children and would not approve. They married secretly and moved to Italy for the sake of Elizabeth’s health. She was disinherited. She was a very successful poet in her own right and they lived off her income.

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

Italy

The Brownings lived in Italy until Elizabeth’s death in 1861, first in Pisa and then in Florence at Casa Guidi. Their only child, ‘Pen’, was born in 1849. They lived happily and comfortably, although Browning was criticised by other writers for his ‘desertion’ of England.

Browning was fascinated by the art and atmosphere of Italy. He described it as his university. Its culture, politics, history and religion influenced his poetry greatly.

When Elizabeth died, a distraught Browning and his son moved back to England. After a time, he began to visit Italy frequently again, but never Florence.

“Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.”

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

Critical Reception

Best known work: two volume Men and Women• Written in Florence from around 1853• Published in 1855 but made little impact• His wife was much more successful than him during her lifetime• Browning was seen as a wilfully obscure poet and often

dismissed by his contemporaries.

After Elizabeth’s death, Browning moved back to London and became part of the London literary scene. His reputation started to take off and in 1868 his long blank-verse poem The Ring and the Book was successful both commercially and critically.

The Dramatic Monologue

The form already existed but Browning is credited with perfecting it. His are particularly compelling because of the (often ridiculous or elaborate) characters he creates. They rely on the silent listener, are highly ironic, and often humorous. We look past the listener’s self-regard to their true personality.

one voiceimplied listener

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

• He very much wanted to become a significant and recognised person. He wanted to escape from the ideas of the middle-class, chapel-going, and business world in which he found himself.

• He was a man of talent – was extremely well-informed, a man of business and was entertaining company.

• He had an immense gusto for life and was determined to find out the deepest motives of men.

• He had a cheery & comic view of life: he was the expression of the healthy, active, courageous man.

Death

Browning died on 12 December 1889, at his son’s home in Venice. He was buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.• Chaucer• Byron • Jonson• Tennyson• Dickens• Dryden• Hardy• Kipling• Shakespeare• Austen• Auden• Blake • Bronte • Burns • Coleridge• Gaskell• Hughes • Barrett-

Browning• Shelley • Wilde• Wordsworth

Personality

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.