Robert Browning Analysis Essay Example

called the dramatic monologue. The monologues he made converse in the tone of some historical or fictional character.

The Men and Women collection contains a lot of the greatest monologues he has made. Browning’s most bold literary piece entitled The Ring and the Book conveys in twelve monologues the tale of a 1600 Roman murder case (Browning, Gillooly, and Spector; Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” “The Life of Robert Browning;” Hawlin; Orr).He had a penchant for people from the Renaissance era. He has written poetry where Renaissance painters Andrea del Sarto and Fra Lippo Lippi were the subjects (Browning, Gillooly, and Spector; Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” “The Life of Robert Browning;” Hawlin; Orr).

For the most part, his monologues depict people during their most trying times. As a result of entering into the kinds of life lived by several people, he somewhat fulfilled the aspiration he articulated in one of his works which is to experience everything.The characters portrayed in his works resemble both the good and the bad. Having both, he implicitly uttered his belief in the importance of action as well as his objection for passive behavior. His literary pieces also declared his belief that the faults and challenges of life are but a prelude to life after death (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr).

Even though his ideas are already significant in their own right, the irregular verse pattern as well as quick movement of his poetry is likewise significant.Such characteristics demonstrate his value for action and energy. At its finest, his

poetry wonderfully communicates a bodily as well as spiritual dynamism. Browning dedicated a literary work to the Renaissance man named Andrea del Sarto. This particular Browning masterpiece is one of his dramatic monologues delivered in the tone of one of the most famous painters who lived during the Renaissance era. Both Andrea del Sarto and Fra Lippo Lippi resided and labored in Florence (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr).

Andrea was chosen by King Francis of France to be the court painter. He exchanges words with Lucrezia, his wife throughout the length of the poem. Her irritating influence made him leave France and travel to Italy but expressed intentions of coming back. He left with the money the King gave him to pay for Italian works of art intended for use in the court.

He also brought with him the money paid for him in advance for some made to order paintings.Yet, he used up all of the money to purchase a house in Italy and never went back to France ever again (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr). In the literary piece, Andrea is found within the confines of the house he has purchased with some stolen cash as he contemplates on his livelihood and grieves that his materialistic aims hindered the chance of him becoming a successful painter (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr). As he and his wife sat by the window, he speaks to her about his accomplishments and disappointments.

Even though Raphael and Michelangelo benefit from greater inspiration and enhanced support,

and are not wed to irritating wives, he believes that he is more skilled than them and even identifies to his wife the flaws in the works of the masters. The form of this poem opens out in pentameter blank verse (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr). It is generally iambic (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr). Andrea del Sarto is a calm verse, the reflections of a man who is not a victor.In form as well as in language, it is both quiet and reserved. Nonetheless, it is able to imitate normal speech rather successfully, with minor deviation and interruptions.

Andrea del Sarto is a poem which has the most forceful argument. It is one where the artist compares of his own brand of art to that of the great masters. He holds his lack of ability to equal his unmatched technical expertise with suitable subject as the one responsible for his failure as an artist. Whenever he paints a virgin, it always ends up resembling his wife. He never found time to let his talent flourish.

Even though Michelangelo and Raphael usually commit mistakes in their art works, the goals as well as the character behind their masterpieces stands out so powerfully that their paintings still outshines his. This appears to oppose what the author stresses in his other pieces of literature concerning the absence of the link connecting art and morality. Andrea observes that Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael were never married. All of them lived to work.

However, as far as Andrea is concerned, painting is nothing more than

a means for survival. He has a materialistic wife to provide for.Between struggling to pay for the sum her wife has left unpaid, purchasing the things she fancies, as well as trying to keep her attention, he finds it hard to concentrate completely on his work. Is it true that creating an art work produces conflict with ordinary life, one that is filled with routine-like tasks and responsibilities? Perhaps, it is of significant importance that the author prefers to speak about painters instead of poets in his argument about the artist figure as well as of the art itself.

At the time of the Renaissance period where much of his works are set, literature then would have had rather restricted patrons.Literature would have been appreciated only by a chosen few with some resources and time to spare on books, without emphasizing those who are equipped with the required literacy to comprehend its message. Painting, in contrast, is a more public representation of art. Wherever it is placed, a painting is readily accessible to anyone who happens to pass by, without considering the level of education he or she attained. Furthermore, primarily since most art works from the period depicted religious subjects, painting had a certain moral function and therefore a clear association with sacred and moral concerns.

This relationship between morality and art is specifically what the author is most concerned about. In point of fact, his literature to a great extent is generally focused on the Victorian era (Cooke; “Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 1833-1846;” Hawlin; Orr). Since the paintings from this period were rather figurative at the same time as

it is public, it stresses many concerns. One of which is that literature is usually symbolic and implicit. It is generally personal, and therefore, proves to be a more complicated test case as compared to painting.

Certainly, the paintings made by Andrea which usually portray religious events, strikes at the center of the morality and art issue, mainly given his art’s lack of correspondence between grand objectives and technical expertise. Andrea presents a submissive and depressed position. He unlike the other characters does not posses the hubris. Therefore, he somewhat embodies the lack of confidence of the author himself. The audience must remember that the author did never enjoyed public recognition until later.

In that same note, when the Men and Women came into print, critics regarded his wife as a much better poet than him. Though by all suggestion their relationship flourished on mutual encouragement and value, it is still likely that the author similar to Andrea may have experienced that married life impaired his art. Although this poem appears dramatic in nature, no dramatization of any person’s actions is done. Instead, it attempts to depict a frame of mind as well as an outlook. Having said this, Andrea del Sarto more resembles the work of Tennyson than it does of Robert Browning.