Robert Browning Research Paper

Robert Browning was known as the “relatively unknown experimenter whose poems were greeted with misunderstanding or indifference” (“Robert Browning”1976). He was also referred to as “Mrs. Browning’s Husband” during his marriage but that did not stop his writing, nor did the death of his wife, Elizabeth Browning. Browning became recognized during the 1860s but in a different way. Though Robert Browning wrote during the Victorian time period, his poems are somewhat a revolt against some the aspects of that time. He did not “fit into the world’s conception of a poet” (Reese 784). Through dramatic monologue and other characteristics, Browning reflected the Victorian period and questioned views of behavior and morality. The Victorian time period

They also challenged traditional religious ideas. This made quality of life better but caused people to doubt more. Browning took this and was able to feed off it. His poems have a grotesque feel and he does not have a consistent view of the world, which makes him hard to classify. He created poems with villains like murderers to show the complications of humans and became found of it. His work reflects his extraordinary intelligence. Browning’s poems bring the “light to the evils of human nature” (“Robert Browning”1980). He did not have a lot of fans because people found his work different and the imperfections are qualities we now admire. Some of the qualities we now admire are the irregular rhyme scheme, the opposing characters, and the unclearness of the motives. What was seen then as unpopular; is now seen as unique and is appreciated. His poems reflect the fact that humans are always changing and becoming

His ironic message comes through the monologue of what the speaker rationalizes and what is obvious to the reader. The irony is that the narrator has just committed a murder but justifies it to himself and the reader with logic. Porphyria is a rich, beautiful woman with a high social ranking, yet her lover is not. She has chosen to leave her high-class party, in a storm, out to a secluded cottage, jut to see the narrator and express her love for him. Then he realizes she will in the end choose to leave him and return to her social class, but he also believes she wants to stay with him. Therefore, he decides it is only natural to kill her, immortalizing the moment, so she cannot leave