Essay on Browning art and character - 897 Words

Browning art and character Write a note on Browning’s attitude to art and life. Robert Browning in his dramatic monologue s is particularly interested in the study of the psychological conflicts of men and women. In many of his poems, he has dealt with the Italian Renaissance artists who evaluated their lives in terms of success and failure. In Browning’s treatment artists are presented as the conscience of an age. To him. Artists symbolize the voice of humanity, expressing their inner thoughts in their works as well as reflecting their souls. Browning also deals with the problem of art itself hown one should make a synthesis between the fleshy and spiritual impulses in the work of art. The most famous poems in which he deals†¦show more content†¦In Fra Lippo Lippi, Browning uses his knowledge of early Italian painting to illustrate an enduring problem of art. The problem is that of reconciling two opposing forces in religious art-the flesh and spirit. Andrea Del Sarto also deals with art and artist’s life. The poem presents a study of the mind of an artist who is dragged by the sense of failure and frustration. Andrea has been a faultless painter, but he failed so far as the spirituality of art was concerned. The main reason of his failure is his ill-fated marriage, marriage with a loveless woman named Lucrezia. From the technical point of view he is perfect but his paintings are not spiritually developed. Andrea claims that the paintings of Michael Angelo, Rafael and Lorenzo are technically imperfect but their art is life like. Andrea lacks the elevation of mind, which gives animation to an artist’s work: â€Å"And I’m the weak -eyed bat no sun should tempt Out of the grange whose four walls make his world.†- At the end of the poem Andrea comforts himself with the thought that god will judge his intentions and give him reward for his artistic endeavour. Browning’s most celebrated poem My Last Duchess deals with art and sculpture. This poem is another example of Browning’s studies of the Renaissance. In giving the portrait of the Duke of Ferrara with all his pride and cruelty, Browning made some commentary on art and artists. The poem isShow MoreRelatedMy Last Duchess by Robert Browning1795 Words   |  7 PagesIn My Last Duchess, Robert Browning takes poetic license with a real historical character from within the Italian Renaissance: Alfonso II, the last Duke of Ferrara. The Duke married a young bride, Lucrezia de’ Medici; however, their marriage ended mysteriously after just three years (Bloom 16). Within My Last Duchess, Browning uses the character and voice of the Duke to pass comment upon some of the themes of the Italian Renaissance, particularly the juxtaposition between aesthetics and moralityRead MoreThe Romantic Era Of The Age Of Enlightenment890 Words   |  4 Pageselements of the arts, musica l, literary, and illustrated, that the romantics used in their work included things like; personal freedom, emotion, nature, the spiritual and the supernatural, the simple life of the noble savage, a character used to describe the innate goodness of mankind having not been corrupted by society (Britannica), the inclusion of the romantic hero, and the use of imagination (The Nineteenth Century: Romanticism ). Through the artistic elements used in the romantics’ art, we can seeRead MoreThe Great Expectations By Charles Dickens Essay1478 Words   |  6 Pagesas â€Å"the working class.† The beginning of Great Expectations finds the protagonist, Pip, as a young boy within this class. 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The poem covers many ideas and themes, which not only create a powerful poem, but also create commentaryRead MoreRobert Browning s Dramatic Monologue953 Words   |  4 PagesRobert Browning was a brilliant writer. The Longman Anthology of British Literature says, â€Å"More than any other nineteenth-century figure, Browning shaped the poetry of the twentieth, influencing British and American poets from, Hardy and Yeats to Elliot, Pound, Frost, Lowell, and Stevens† (1322). One of Robert Browning’s specialties was dramatic monologues. In his dramatic monologues, Browning develops his characters really well. Throughout the monologue Browning shows the true character of the personRead MoreInterpretation of Poems by Robert Browning, William Yates, and William Williams562 Words   |  3 PagesDuke of Ferrara is a character and the speaker in the poem â€Å"My Last Duchess,† by Robert Browning. The reader witnesses a man that is controlling and whom will destroy anything that he cannot control. One realizes immediately, the extent of the Duke’s need for power in the title and in the first line when he uses the term â€Å"My† which shows ownership (Browning). The Duke cannot control the Duchess’s â€Å"spot of joy,† (Browning line 21) therefore; he commands to have her killed (Browning line 45). He stillRead More Elizabeth Barret Browning Essay1152 Words   |  5 PagesBarrett Browning was a plain woman of the Vic torian Era that was most remarkably gifted. She â€Å"was destined to become known to the world†(Preston xi). Elizabeth Barrett Browning became known for her poetry, because she showed marriages were her women character were often left emotionally unstable. In her book Recollections, Browning describes what poetry means to herself. She explained that it â€Å"became a distinct object with me; an object to read, think, and live for† (Preston xii). Browning was describedRead MoreAnalysis of the Setting in My Last Duchess and Dover Beach Essay669 Words   |  3 Pagesenvironment in which the story takes place. In some instances, the setting is used to develop the characters. Robert Browning and Matthew Arnold use the setting to expose their character traits. My Last Duchess and Dover Beach, respectively, portray the weaknesses of the characters using elements from the setting. The text, page 629 and 630, tells us that the setting in My Last Duchess displays a valuable art form that exposes his greed and cruelty. Dover Beach demonstrates changeability and impermanenceRead MorePorphyrias Lover1455 Words   |  6 Pagespoem is simply a frightening and perverse account of a man who cannot properly express his feelings for a woman, it is much more complex. Two major motifs in the poem, love and sin, create a sense of contradiction. Browning uses this contradiction to explore the relationship between art and morality. The title of the poem leads the reader to believe that the speaker and the woman have been in a relationship for some time. It evokes the image of a woman secretly visiting her lover. Then, the speakerRead MoreThe Ordinary Men of the Holocaust1075 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Holocaust came from all over Europe and a wide variety of backgrounds. Art Spiegelman’s Maus: a Survivor’s Tale, Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution, and Jan Gross’s Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedbwabne, Poland, all provides a different perspective on how ordinary people felt about their experiences in the Holocaust both perpetrators and victims. Art Spiegelman’s Maus: a Survivor’s Tale is particularly unique in that it is