Analysing Darker Motives or Delving Robert Browningâs âPoetry of Revengeâ

Paula GuimarÃ£es

Jump to Content

Analysing Darker Motives or Delving Robert Browningâs âPoetry of Revengeâ

In: Best Served Cold: Studies on Revenge

Author:

Paula GuimarÃ£es

Paula GuimarÃ£es
Search for other papers by Paula GuimarÃ£es in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 49â61

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848880436_007

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

â¬42.00â¬35.00Â excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Literature generally likes to illustrate the noble passions and not the more evil and ignoble ones, like envy, jealousy, avarice, hatred or revenge. When these are portrayed in the plays of Shakespeare or in a novel such as Emily BrontÃ«âs Wuthering Heights, they are driven by the emotion that so fiercely and swiftly accumulates around them, they master the body and soul, the intellect and the will, like some furious tyrant, and in their extremes hurry their victim into madness. Robert Browning (1812-1889) took some of those terrible powers and made them obsessive subjects in his poetry. Short, sharp-outlined sketches of them occur in his dramas and longer poems but also in the smaller compositions. The combination, for example, of envy and hatred resolved in vengeance in The Laboratory is too intense for any pity to intrude. But in A Forgiveness our natural revolt against the work of hatred is modified into pity even though the âjusticeâ of revenge is accomplished. Unlike many of his Victorian contemporaries, Browning deliberately populated his poetic creations with evil people â who not only commit crimes and sins, ranging from simple hatred to cold-blooded murder, but who are also crafty, intelligent, argumentative and capable of lying. In this sense, the poems we propose to analyse provide interesting snapshots of his speakers and their often deranged personalities. By channelling the voice of a character, Browning explores evil without actually being evil himself, allowing several forms of consciousness and self-representation to emerge. He thus seems to question the artistâs responsibilities (in his creations) and the direct relationship between art and morality, issues that were only developed later in the century.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9781848880436/BP000007.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

Best Served Cold: Studies on Revenge

E-Book ISBN:: 9781848880436

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 29 Apr 2010

Subjects

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	326	59	9
Full Text Views	4	1	0
PDF Views & Downloads	5	1	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Analysing Darker Motives or Delving Robert Browningâs âPoetry of Revengeâ

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Best Served Cold: Studies on Revenge

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics

Analysing Darker Motives or Delving Robert Browningâs âPoetry of Revengeâ