Robert Browning revisited

de Adam Roberts

Robert Browning Revisited is an accessible and up-to-date analysis of Browning's entire poetic career. Presenting a detailed account of Browning's crucial engagement with the Romantics, especially Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his poetic development through The Ring and the Book, author Adam Roberts attempts to make good the critical neglect suffered by the work produced after 1869, giving fresh, innovative readings of the late lyrics, dramatic monologues, and long narrative poems. Roberts writes that "only with a complete sense of Browning's whole career can a student fully come to terms with the enormity of his contribution to modern literature.". This comprehensive study is arranged chronologically, covering the three main creative periods of Browning's life: the early phase (1833-1845), a middle phase of married life (1846-1861), and the final phase of tremendous productivity (1861-1889). Framing his analyses generally around the dialectic between Romantic subjectivity and Victorian objectivity that drives Browning's strongest work, Roberts bolsters his critical arguments with relevant biographical and historical information, presents new readings while honoring others that have stood the test of time, and provides a select bibliography giving a richly detailed survey of the history of Browning criticism. This introductory monograph gives the general reader and student alike a well-balanced examination of one of the most highly acclaimed Victorian poets.