Browning is best known for his development of the dramatic monologue, in which he recreated the world of Renaissance Italy. This work provides a thematic survey of Browning's often difficult work, using key poems as a common point of reference. Themes covered include styles, genres and the mind.
Part 1 Composition and influence: Browning's theory of composition; conceptions; between conception and draft; writing it down; ready for the printers; proofs; revision. Part 2 Genre and style: genre; dramatic method; so many Robert Brownings; style - is it singing, is it saying?; the voice of saying; genius and the common man. Part 3 Family, friendship, fame: family; Browning's family; the family in Browning; friendship's double face; Charles; waring. Part 4 Love and marriage: love; Pippa Passes and the hierarchy of love; climbing-plants and propping-trees; marriage; Browning's marriage; marriage in Browning. Part 5 Politics: Browning's political correctness; what is a liberal?; what is a radical? Browning and the Lyttons; history and discursive displacement. Part 6 Philosophy: whose idea is this?; the self as subject; the selfish subject; the selfless subject; the Christian synthesis. Part 7 Reading Browning: editions; letters; diaries and memoirs; reference books; criticism.
