英国诗人勃朗宁及其作品简介

Turning to
drama poems
Paracelsus
(1835)
Strafford
(1837)
Sordello
(1840)
• All these drama was regarded as failure. • Paracelsus (1835), whose hero was a Renaissance alchemist(炼金术士). Though Browning later called the poem "a failure," it received favorable reviews and brought about important friendships with the authors William Wordsworth • His first play, Strafford (1837), closed after only five performances . • The publication of Sordello in 1840 was a disaster which dealt Browning's growing reputation a severe blow • The experiences are valuable in that they helped him develop “dramatic monologue” to maturity
Mr. Browning
Mrs. Browning
Mr. & Mrs Brownings
(1806-1861)
• 罗伯特· 勃朗宁和著名女诗人伊丽莎白· 巴莱特的爱情故事，是英国文 学史乃至世界文学史上最美的爱情佳话之一 。 • 伊丽莎白· 巴莱特· 勃朗宁，即布朗宁夫人（1806～1861）英国诗人。 出身于富裕的家庭，自幼聪慧，在乡村度过幸福的童年生活。15岁时 从马上摔跌下来，伤了脊椎骨，长期卧病在床，博览群书，醉心于诗 歌创作。 • 1845年她第一次与罗伯特相见，此前他们已为诗歌神交已久，据说有 一段时间两人每天一封信。罗伯特与她见面后，便开始了热烈的追求， 丝毫不介意她大他6岁，年已39，且久病在床。 • 在罗伯特的爱与鼓励下，她创造自己的奇迹，她开始离开她蜷缩了多 年的屋子，先是被人抱着下楼，接着可以在搀扶下自己下楼了。第二 年的春天，在遇见勃朗宁之前在病床上躺了14年的巴莱特可以自己走 到大街上了，爱情所创造的生命奇迹终于使她可以回报勃朗宁的执着 了. • 1846年，她不顾父亲的反对，和诗人罗伯特· 布朗宁（1812～1889） 私奔，在教堂举行简单的婚礼后，各自出发逃往意大利，并在比萨会 合，去继续他们的生活
Robert Browning &Tennyson
• It was not until the 1860’s that Browning gained a public and became recognized as the rival or equal of Tennyson. • Unlike Tennyson who idealized society and wrote apart from daily living, Browning aimed to appeal to the contemporary taste for moral principals. He delighted in the idiom of ordinary speech and in the peculiarities of varied minds.
和丁尼生的对比
• 在包括丁尼生在内很多的戏剧独白诗中，独白者 不是在“自言自语”，就是在向读者坦露心迹， 因此实质上仍是一种抒情独白，只不过抒情主人 公是剧中人而已；况且剧中的抒情主人公还有与 作者认同的明显倾向。而勃朗宁的独白者所面对 的不是读者，而是剧中人，他的独白是剧中人对 剧中人所说的一段话，称之为“独白”只是由于 诗未把独白对象的话写出来。但从独白中我们能 感受到对话者的存在。这样，独白者就成了真正 意义上的戏剧人物，成了独立于作者的典型形象。 因此，勃朗宁的戏剧独白诗是一种客观的、戏剧 性的形式，其目的不在抒情而在为人物造像 。
1868: “The Ring and the Book” – Browning’s greatest single poem: A murder that an old husband killed his beauty wife. This poet consists of 12 dramatic monologues.And in each of the monologue, there is a people telling how the murder goes. The Ring and the Book was enthusiastically received by the public, and Browning became a prominent figure in London society. He was a frequent guest at
3. love and marriage with Elizabeth Barrett : romantic 1855: “Men and Woman”（《男男女女》） He describes his enjoyment of Italy, such as its picturesque landscape, lively street scenes, monuments from the past and Renaissance.
Men and Women
• Men and Women is a collection of 51 poems. Though the volume contained many of the dramatic monologues that are best known and loved by modern readers, it was not popular with Browning‘s contemporaries. But it did receive several favorable critical reviews and made Browning the idol of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood（拉斐尔前派 ）.
(a) He began his literary career as an ardent follower of Shelly. His first poem “Pauline” (《波琳》1833) was attacked by John Mill as “morbid state” of self-worship(“有强烈的病态的自我意识” ) Thjective manner of Shelly and created his own objective way of writing.
Robert
Browning
Together with Tennyson，they are regarded as the best two poets in Victorian Time.
family --- the son of a clerk in the Bank of England
education --- never attended school
He spent his rest of life in London.
The phrases of his life & his poetic development
• 1.Years as a child & bachelor:
• （Browning began to write verses at the age of 6.）
2 Development of the Dramatic Monologue
• After the disappointing reception of Strafford and Sordello, Browning turned to the dramatic monologue. He experimented with and perfected this form in the long poem Pippa Passes (1841) and two collections of shorter poems, Dramatic Lyrics (1842) and Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845). • Usually written in blank verse, the dramatic monologue is the speech of a single character in a moment of some dramatic significance. In the course of his monologue, the speaker reveals what this situation is, as well as the setting of the situation and to whom he is speaking. Of greatest interest, however, is what he reveals about his own motives and personality. Often the speaker, while trying to justify himself to his listeners, actually reveals the faults or even depravity of his character to the reader. Such poems as "My Last Duchess" in which this ironic revelation is fully developed, give the reader the pleasure of discovering more about the speaker than he perceives about himself.