Gosh, I'm sorry that not more of you like Browning, but, as a professor of mine in graduate school told me when I complained about reading an author I hated, "He is important, so read it." I realize that your comments are simply comments and not complaints, but I think this still holds.
Friday, October 23, 2009
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Browning does a good job of showing the workings of the protagonist’s mind in “My Last Duchess,” when the protagonist describes the personality of his late duchess. Her personality traits seem pretty innocuous to me, but apparently the Duke saw it a different way. He says that he thinks “she was too easily impressed” (23). What does it mean to be too easily impressed? Did the Duke imagine something that was not there? The Duke also says, “she smiled … when’er I passed her, but who passed without much the same smile” (44-45). Did the Duke expect her to only smile at him? What does this say about the Duke? Also, what does it say about him that he killed her for these kinds of things? I guess all that is open to speculation, since we don’t know very much about the Duke.
ReplyDeleteI think Browning is a little clearer in “Fra Lippo Lippi.” The protagonist is this poem became a monk just in order to survive, not because he had any religious calling. Lippo Lippi seems to be a person that has had to not only be a monk just to survive, but to paint the way other people wanted him just to make money. It seems that Lippo Lippi was determined to assert his own personality anyway, and the poem tells how Lippo goes about this. But because I know how Lippo started out, I can sort of make sense of why he is the way he is, whereas in “My Last Duchess,” we don’t really know too much about why the Duke thinks they way he does.
I couldn’t really make too much sense out of Porphyria’s Lover. When I first read it, it just seemed like Porphyria sat down next to her lover, and then he strangled her. I didn’t get any sense as to why the lover would just do this, or what Porphyria may have done to make him react this way. He doesn’t seem angry at her. When we discussed it in class, I think it helped some, but Browning does not provide enough clues about the lover to really figure it out.
Though I haven't enjoyed reading Browning's work as much as other poets we have studied, his dramatic monologues do offer insight into psychological underpinnings that breathe a unique sense of life into the characters he portrays. Porphyria's lover is a truly disturbing piece of poetry that relies upon twisting the trust of the reader upon him/herself much like the twisted mind of the main character. The title itself leads us to believe that the context of the poem resides in a man's devotion to his lover, and in the first lines of the poem this idea seems to be confirmed. But as we see their is something darker lurking in this man's heart. When we read of his strangling of Porphyria the reader is left stunned and bewildered as to the cause of this seeming undeserved effect. The madness behind this man's actions is confusing and horrifying as he seems to kill his love without any remorse or compunction. Browning delves into the obsessive nature a man can be prone to in the possession of his female lover.In the sudden shift we see midway through the poem Browning shows how easily that obsession turns to violence in its execution as it fulfills its need to possess its object completely and through her death...eternally. But Browning's portrayal of such murderous and frightening behavior in a mad man's affection is not only achieved in the relationship between Porphyria and her lover-murderer, but also in the relationship the reader has with the text and the author. Browning compounds the abrupt terror in this sudden turn of events by deceiving the reader into trusting in his false representation of "Porphyria's Lover," only to become twisted in their attempt to fathom the murderer's own twisted mind as he strangles her with ease. Browning orchestrates this once seeming love ballad into a psychotic requiem, showing how obsessive love declares itself through unrequited murder.
ReplyDeleteRobert Browning is obviously interested in the inner-workings of the oppressed, insane, and the incredibly egocentric. His poems "Porphyria's Lover", "The Bishop Orders his Tomb at St. Praxed's Church" and "Fra Lippo Lippi" explore different kinds of repression or psychoses that affect the male subjects of the poems in a negative way.
ReplyDelete"Porphyria's Lover" examines the psyche of a psychopath. As we learned in class, the cottage is actually supposed to be a cell in which a psycho is imagining this scenario. I like to read it as a real cottage with this man and his "lover" and to keep her in this perfect moment with him, he decides to wrap her beautiful hair around her gorgeous neck and preserve their love. Although this is a sick and twisted scenario that suggests necrophilia, we can tell that Browning really understands the psyche of this psychopath and I fell that he brings this tragic and scary reality of the disease Porphyria to life.
"The Bishop" is an observation on a man who is so egocentric that he is trying to one-up his previous peer even in death. In life, he bested his peers by having a wife, "She, men would have to be your mother once,/ Old Gandolf envied me, so fair she was!" (ln 4-5). The bishop is dictating how he wants his coffin made, in these extravagant minerals such as "marble" and "bronze" and "jasper". At the end, as he is lying on his death bed, he finds comfort in the fact that even if he doesn't one-up him in death "as he [Gandolf] still envied me, so fair she was!" This man's downfall and his psychosis is ego centrism.
Fra Lippo Lippi examines, as from the article we just read, what happens when man is forced into sexual repression, he feels the need to break free and explore his sexual desires through money, art, and sexual promiscuity. Lippo was repressed for much of his life because he lived in a monastery from the age of eight and was not allowed to explore his sexuality and decide if he could life a celibate life. He has thrown himself into the new style of manhood by painting women in the brothel and selling his secular art instead of sticking to the art of the church.
In each of the poems that we have read, Browning presents to us a male narrator who is troubled by something or other. And by "troubled" I mean they are unhappy with their current situation in life and dwell on what could've, or should've been, and a couple of his characters are just a little bit crazy. The "crazy" characters would have to be the ones that are the speakers in my two favorites--"Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess".
ReplyDeleteIn "My Last Duchess" the story of the girl in the painting seems innocent enough until the speaker hints that he had his last duchess killed because he was jealous of her treatment of others. Then we find out that he is about to get married again and we realize that the whole point of his story is to warn the listener that he wouldn't hesitate to repeat the crime if his next duchess didn't come up to his standards. The speaker in this poem is conceited and believes that he should be worshipped by his wife, whoever she may be. He will not do the dirty deed of murdering her himself because he is above that, but he doesn't have any problem getting someone else to do it. Or at least that's what I understood from his story. One hint that the guy telling the story is crazy and full of himself--he "went there". He obviously felt no remorse over the murder of the last girl, nor did he feel bad about speaking of her the way he did, only pointing out what he thought were her flaws. His warning actually turns out to be an accidental peek at his own flaws--jealousy, insecurity, instability, etc.
In "Porphyria's Lover" we are actually a witness to the murder of someone. It is introduced so calmly and nonchalantly that it makes the reader kind of have to stop and go back to make sure he/she read that right. That was how it happened with me, anyway. The guy in this poem is downright crazy because he just talks about how he killed the lady like he was talking about the weather. And then he proceeds to sit on the couch with the dead woman like they are just two lovers hanging around watching a movie! He is not creeped out by the fact that the woman is DEAD and he seems unmoved by the fact that he was the one who strangled her. I don't know if this is suppose to be a part of his imagination or what, but either way, there is definitely something wrong with this guy.
"Fra Lippo Lippi" has a different theme going on from the other two. There is no murder or hint of the guy being a secret psycho-killer, but like the other two narrators, Fra Lippo has his insecurities. And like the other two narrators, it has to do with women, only in Fra Lippo's case it has to do with his limited contact with women. Here is a man who was told at the age of 8 that he should never engage in sexual activity, but being a man, and a worldly one at that, he could not resist the temptation of flesh, so he relieves his tension whenever he gets the chance. Sometimes he releases his energy through paintings, and whenever that is not enough, he visits a brothel. Fra Lippo is a man who likes to talk, or maybe he's drunk, I don't know, but he literally goes into his whole life story to explain himself to the guards he ran into. He spends so much time trying to justify being found in such a questionable place, especially at his appearance of being a monk, that the reader realizes that Fra Lippo knows his actions are questionable, but he also knows that he is a man and it is in his nature to act on certain things. Apparently the guards sympathize with this story because they let him go. The only thing that this poem does is confirm that men have a one-track mind. I'm just kidding on that last part. Had to check if you were paying atttention!
Note: I didn't know there was a 4,061 (?) character limit until I had to trim down my last post.
ReplyDeleteHmm, apparently "My Last Duchess", "Porphyria's Lover" and "Fra Lippo Lippi" are the "in" poems to discuss at the moment. Well, I'm glad I took a part in that! ;)
In response to Joy,
I like your incorporation of what we discussed in class. I remembered about the whole "cell" idea, but I, too, would prefer to read the poem in the literal sense. I found your discussion of "the Bishop" interesting and I also liked that you brought a new poem into the mix of blog responses thus far. Your response also brought to my attention that both "holy" men were very worldly, and it makes me wonder why Browning chose to represent them in this way?
Not exactly a response to any one person, but here's what I was thinking about Browning's exploration of psychlogical motivation. Maybe the point of it all is for his readers to discuss these poems to come up with their own interpretation? For me, these blogs help understand these poems when I read what other people think. It seems much easer to explore a character's psyche in a novel. There just doesn't seem much to go on in these poems. In "Porphyria's Lover" I was left wondering what kind of a person was this that would murder his lover in this way, seemingly without motivation? If it was a novel, you would (hopefully) at least get some clue as to what led up to it.
ReplyDeleteI believe Browning’s poem “Porphyria’s Lover” is the best example of Browning’s interest in psychological motivation. This is easily seen if you agree with the major premise of the article “Porphyria is Madness” that I read for my critical intro. In this article, Barry Popowhich suggests that porphyria is a disease that causes delusional madness and that the speaker of “Porphyria’s Lover” indeed had porphyria. This brings up the question of whether or not he murdered her out of madness or if it was simply a delusion in his mind.
ReplyDeleteWhether you believe he had porphyria or not, it is still obvious that he was not in his right mind. This poem allows us to the inner working so the murder’s mind: the feelings that led to his actions, and his motivation behind them.
Browning’s monologues reveal his characters’ weaknesses that might otherwise be hidden. Monologues give the reader a chance to truly get into the mind of the speaker. You know their thoughts, their reasoning, their feelings, and their motivations. This is why I love writing monologues myself. It gives you a chance to become a completely different person, take on a different persona; almost acting in the form of writing. It allows for a kind of writing that most other poems simply to not offer. It allows a great chance to create something bold and out of the ordinary that might not be what people expect you to write. (I think it’s safe to say that “Porphyria’s Lover” is in fact both bold and out of the ordinary)
In response to Allison's second post:
ReplyDeleteI think you might just be right in saying that possibly Browning meant for readers to come up with their own interpretations. I think many authors have a set idea of what they mean in their work and they want their readers to see this. Other authors have a set idea, but they also want their readers to see it in their own way and make interpretations for themselves. I think Browning possibly wrote with no specific idea in mind, simply many options and open-ended thougths of what could actually be happening. Possibly this is why the title of "Porphyria's Lover" was orignially “Porphyria”, then “madhouse Cells, No. 11”, and then finally "Porhphyria's Lover". Possibly Browning thought that the original titles gave too much of one specific idea to the reader and narrowed down the possible interpretations too much.
Claudia-
ReplyDeleteI think that Browning chose to represent the holy men as secular because for many many years, the Catholic church was very secular. The bishops and upper clergy were able to live extravagant lifestyles. The church sold tithes to their congregation and, just like in Hard Times, you could pay to have a divorce, or in Barchester Towers, one of the priests was off on vacation, living off of the donations of his congregation. The church, historically, has been very corrupt, and has just recently begun being checked by the entirety of the world because communication and information are so quick to come by.
Robert Browning's poems definitely explore the workings of his mind on a psychological level. In "Prophyria's Lover" he openly expresses his idea of being facinated with the thoughts of an insane person with a distrubed mind. He creates this mystical lover that is truly obsessed with an imaginary woman who he ends up choking with her own hair. What is really left open to the mind when reading this delusion of an imaginary lover is if she really existed. In "My Last Duchess" Browning introduces us to a Duke who is somewhat of a nut case because he feels that if the women he marries are not totally focused on him that they are cheating. When he [the Duke] creates this picture in his mind his jealous rage and imaginary thoughts lead him to murder his wife but then turn around and justify that it was well in his right to take her life because she was not true to him.
ReplyDeleteThe way that Browning is able to reveal the characters of his characters in his dramatic monologues that exposes their psyches is by choosing to open with such sincerity and the desire that this monologue is sort of like a romance novel. After he has baited you in he then drops you back down with a cliff hanger that exposes the real insanity of the character with a sinister deed of murder.
Claudia, I agree with what you said about Browning's poem "Fra Lippo Lippi" and also that it is like a fairytale compared to the other two poems that bring out the dark side of Browning. I guess like Oscar Wilde he wanted to test the waters by walking on the wild side and see what it was like thinking like a crazy person and a murderer.
ReplyDelete