A Biography of Robert Browning

Biography:

            Robert Browning was born in Camberwell (a suburb of London) on May 7, 1812. He too was the oldest child. Robert was a very intelligent little boy. He began reading and writing by the age of five, and by the age of fourteen Robert knew how to speak Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish. He was educated at home by his father who worked as a bank clerk, was also an artist, scholar, antiquarian, and collector of books and pictures. Robert was also tutored in music, drawing, dancing and horsemanship. By age twelve, he wrote a volume of Byronic verse that was called Incondita. This book was never published because his parents, but in 1825 his cousin gave Robert a collection of Shelley’s poetry. He enjoyed reading her book and he even asked for all of Shelley’s work for his thirteenth birthday. Robert didn’t start writing until after he turned twenty. He ended up attending the University of London, but he left so that he could read and learn at his own pace. In 1833, Browning published his first major work, Pauline and in 1840 he published Sordelo, which was widely viewed as a failure. Robert also tried drama, but they were unsuccessful. His play Strafford was ran for five nights in 1837 and again that was unsuccessful. Then, his dramatic monologues came in and this was his use of diction, rhythm, and symbol. Dramatic monologues were considered Robert’s most important contribution to poetry, and he even influenced major poets of the twentieth century. Soon after that, he had read Elizabeth Barrett’s work and was very interested in her. They met in person in 1845 after sending letters back and forth to each other for 12 months. The two got married in 1846 by Robert’s father and then they both moved to Florence, Italy. They had a son a little later and his name was also Robert, but they liked to call him “Pen”. Elizabeth inspired Robert’s collection of poems Men and Women (1855), which Robert dedicated to her. This was known as one of Robert’s best works, and after it was published Robert was known as Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. A few years later, Elizabeth passed away and Robert and Pen then moved to London. At this time Robert was publishing Dramatis Personae and The Ring and the book. After he published these two, the Browning Society was founded in 1881 and Robert was awarded honorary degrees by Oxford University in 1882. Robert then died in 1889, the same day that his final volume of verse, Asolando was published.  

 

Sources Cited:

Everett, Glenn. "Robert Browning - Biography." Robert Browning - Biography. N.p., 7 May 2007. Web. 25 Aug. 2013.

A Biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Biography:

            Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a famous English poet that was born in 1806 in Durham, England. She was the first born of twelve children and her family had lived in England, but had their sugar plantations in Jamaica where they relied on slave labor. Elizabeth was homeschooled and she loved to read. She read lots of Shakespearean plays, and one of the greatest passages from Paradise Lost all by the age of ten. Elizabeth also enjoyed writing. She wrote her first poem, which was consisted on four books of rhyming couplets. Then, when Elizabeth was twelve years old, she had developed a lung ailment that plagued her, and when she was fifteen she suffered spinal injury (from riding her horses). These “injuries” had a dramatic play in Elizabeth’s education, but Elizabeth never game up. In fact, Elizabeth taught herself how to speak Hebrew just so she could read the Old Testament. Elizabeth’s mother then passed away in 1828 leaving the Barrett’s poor. Edward (Elizabeth’s father) sold the rural estate at a public auction and the then rented cottages for him and his children for three years until they were able to move to London. At this time, Elizabeth had published her translation of Prometheus Bound (1833). She was twenty seven years old and she still lived with her father and siblings, but her father had Elizabeth’s younger siblings travel to Jamaica to help with the family estates. Elizabeth didn’t agree with slavery and didn’t like that her siblings were being sent away. In 1838 Elizabeth had written The Seraphim and Other Poems. These poems talked about Christian sentiments that were translated into classic Greek tragedy.  Elizabeth was then sent away to live in Torquay for a year escorted by her brother, Edward. Edward had died in the sailing in the sea of Torquay and after Elizabeth found out she went back home and locked herself in her room for 5 years. Of course Elizabeth was still writing; in 1844 Elizabeth then produced a collection titled Simply Poems. This then caught the eye of a famous poet named Robert Browning. He was very interested in her writing, so he wrote her a letter. These two ended up writing letters to each other constantly; over a 12 month period, 574 letters were written back and forth. Edward (Elizabeth’s father) did not want any of her children to get married, but Elizabeth and Robert ended up getting married in 1846. After they got married they moved to Florence, Italy. Elizabeth’s father never talked to her again. Elizabeth and Robert then had a son named Robert Wideman Browning.  Elizabeth was still writing, and her collection of The Sonnets love lyrics (in English) was her best work. Critics say that this was her best and most known piece and they compared her imagery to Shakespeare! Elizabeth was a well-known poet in Europe and she ended up dying on June 29, 1861 in Florence.

 

Sources Cited:

Everett, Glenn. "The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning." The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. N.p., 6 Apr. 2002. Web. 25 Aug. 2013.

The Dramatic Monologue by Robert Langbaum

Let me first start off by saying that I’m not familiar with Elizabeth or Robert Browning, in fact I’ve never even heard of them before. I just read The Dramatic Monologue: Sympathy versus Judgment by Robert Langbaum and I could tell that this piece was one of the most important pieces. Although at times I seemed confused, I thought that this piece was very interesting and I just wanted to keep reading.

Summary:

            Robert Browning’s The Dramatic Monologue was one of the pieces of work that was looked at in a conference in London. I don’t think that there is an exact definition as to what dramatic monologue means, but after reading this piece I gather that it could be defined as multiple things. For example, a person (someone who’s not the poet) speaks the speech that makes up the poem in a specific situation or special moment. Langbaum says “The dramatic monologue must have not only a speaker other than the poet, but also a listener, an occasion, and some interplay between speaker and listener”.[1]Another definition of a dramatic monologue could be that this person also addresses and interacts with one or multiple people. We as the readers know exactly what they say/do, but that’s because of the clues that the single speaker gives. In a dramatic monologue, it’s important that the poet’s choice enhances the reader meaning that the piece is interesting and draws people closer. Like I said above, I wanted to keep reading about the monologue because I was so interested in what it actually meant. Some of the most famous monologues from the Browning’s are My Last Duchess and Childe Roland and Caliban. Another quote I found to be interesting was the quote on page 537 “He is doing what Browning does in all the dramatic monologues on religion-making the empiricist argument, starting without any assumptions as to faith and transcendental values”. This quote is stating that even though Blougram may not be completely right because he knows his argument isn’t the best doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily wrong. I think that if someone says something meaningful their “answer” wouldn’t be wrong. As long as that person can back up their answer with information then no answer could be wrong.

 

  

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[1] Robert, Langbaum. "The Dramatic Monologue: Sympathy versus Judgment." Robert Browning's Poetry: Authoritative Texts, Criticism. By Robert Browning and James F. Loucks. New York: Norton, 1979.