Table Of ContentMEN PORTRAYED BY BROW ING
A T hesis
Presented to
the Faculty of th e School of E nglish
The U niversity of Southern C aliforn ia
In P artial F ulfillm en t
o f the Requirements for the Degree
M aster of Arts in English
by
Esther R itter Davis
June 1950
UMI Number: EP44263
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M aster of A rts
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1
C ontradictory in te rp re ta tio n s of
Brovming’s ch aracter p o rtray a ls ..................... 6
Browning’s alleg ed purpose in h is
p o r t r a y a l s ........................................................................ 1 0
Types of men p r e s e n t e d ..................................................14
I BROWNING'S PORTRAYAL OF MEN WHO LIVED
ACCORDING TO AND OPENLY JUSTIFIED A
NEGATIVE PHILOSOPHY OF L I F E .............................................20
The unscrupulous type''of m a n ........................................21
Count Guido Franceschini in "The Ring
and the B o o k " ................................................... 22
The e ld e r man in "The Inn A lb u m " .................25
The Duke of F errara in "My Last Duchess" . 29
The Duke in "The F lig h t of the Duchess" . . 30
A husband in "A F o r g i v e n e s s " ...................................32
The Lover in "Porphyria’s Lover" .................... 35
The Greek in "P ietro o f A b a n o " ......................36
The King in "Instans T y r a n n u s " ......................39
Count G authier in "Count Gismond" ..................... 41
The Doctor in "Doctor— ”■ .............................................44
The Pope in "The Pope and theN et" . . . . 46
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
The s p ir itu a lly warped type of m a n ........................47
Donald in "Donald” ............................................................49
Bishop Blougram in "Bishop Blougram’s
Apology" ............................................................................51
Mr. Sludge in "Mr. Sludge, ’th e Medium’" . 54
Djabal in "The Return of the Druses" . . . 56
Chiappino in "A S o u l's Tragedy" ............................ 5$
The Leader in "The Lost L e a d e r " ..............................64
The Bishop in "The Bishop Orders his Tomb '
a t Saint Praxed’s Church" ...................................... 65
The despicable type of m a n ...................................... 67
The Monk in "Soliloquy of the Spanish
C lo ister" .................................................... . . . . . 6B
Johannes Agricola in "Johannes A gricola
in M e d i t a t i o n " ..................................................................70
Paul Desforges Mai H ard in "The Two
Poets of C r o i s i c " ............................................................72
Hob in "Halbert and H o b " ...........................................75
George Bubb Dodington in "George Bubb
D o d in g to n " ...................................................... 77
The type of man lured by the f l e s h ...............79
Don Juan in "F ifine at the F a i r " ......................$0
Fra Lippo Lippi in "Fra Lippo Lippi" . . . S3
CHAFrER PAGE
Francesco Romanelli In ’’B eatrice
S i g n o r i n i " ......................................................................34
Solomon in ’’Solomon and B alk is” .......................36
II BROWNING’S PORTRAYAL OF MEN WHO WERE
CONSCIOUS OF A POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY OF
LIFE, BUT CHOSE. TO LIVE ACCORDING TO
THE NEGATIVE...........................................................................33
The v in d ic tiv e type of m a n ........................................ 33
The Farmer and Lodovico Buti in
’’F ilippo B aldinucci on th e P riv ileg e
of B u ria l” ......................................................................89
De Lorge in ’’The Glove” ................................................91
The Pied Piper in the ’’Pied Piper
of Hamel in ” ......................................................................93
The type of man who chose a seeming
good and lo s t the b e s t .....................................................94
Cleon in "Cleon” ......................... 95
Karshish in ”An E p istle ” ................................................99
The Duke in "Daniel B a rto li” ...................................100
Prince Berthold in "Colombe’s Birthdajr” . . 102
A ristophanes in "A ristophanes’ Apology” . . 104
The type of man who was a s p iritu a l coward » 106
M artin Relph in "M artin Relph" .......................... 106
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Duke Ferdinand in "The Statue
and the Bust" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Andrea d e l Sarto in ’’Andrea d e l Sarto” . . • 112
Lover in ’’Too late" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Henry, Earl Mertoun, in "A B lot in
the 'Scutcheon” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The w ell-in ten tio n ed , but m isguided type
of man 116
P acchiarotto in "Pacchiarotto and How
He Worked in Distem per” . . . . . . . . . . 116
The Grammarian in "A Grammarian's Funeral” 113
Francis Furini in "Francis Furini" . . . . . 122
Leonce Miranda in "Red Cotton Night-Cap
Country" . . . . . • . * • ;. M. . . . . 123
Thorold, Earl Tresham, in "A B lot in the
'Scutcheon” . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Prince H ohenstiel in "Prince E oh en stiel-
Schwangau, Savior of Society" . . . . . . . 126
Wentworth, Earl of S trafford , in
"Strafford" . . . .............................................................128
The P atriot in "The Patriot" .........................129
Caius O ctavius Caesar the August in
"Imperante Augusto Natus E st— " . . . . . . 129
CHAPTER PAGE
T heocrite in rfThe Boy and the Angel" . . . 131
The type of man m ystified by l i f e ..............................132
Caliban in "Caliban Upon Setebos" ....................... 132
The Husband in "The Worst of I t " .........................135
The Lover in "St. M artin’s Summer" . . . . 136
Saul in " S a u l " .......................................................................137
P ietro in "P ietro of Abano” ........................................13$
I I I BROWNING’S PORTRAYAL OF MEN-WHO KNEW AND
LIVED ACCORDING TO A POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY
OF L IF E .................................................................................................140
The type of man whose sense of values,
though r e a l, is not th a t commonly held . . 140
Herv^ Riel in "Herve R i e l " ................................ 140
Ivan Ivanovitch in "Ivan Ivanovitch" . . . 143
The P ain ter in "P icto r Ignotus" ......................... 145
Ned B ra tts in "Ned B r a t t s " .............................146
The lover in "In a G o n d o la " ............................. . 147
The poet in "How I t S trik es a Contemporary” 14$
The type of man redeemed by l o v e ..............................149
Admetos in "B alu stio n ’s Adventure" . . . . 149
The Dying man in " C o n f e s s io n s " ..............................151
Valence in "Colombe’s Birthday" ............................ 152
Rosny in " R o s n y " ..................................................................152
vii
CHAPTER PAGE
Hoseyn in "M ul^ykeh".......................... . . . . . 153
The type o f man -who had the courage of
h is con viction s . . . . . . . . .......................... 155
G iuseppi Caponsacchi in "The Ring and
the Book" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Horbert in "In a Balcony" .......................... 157
Fust in "Fust and H is Friends" . . . . . . 158
C live in "Clive" . ................................................ 160
John in "A Death in the Desert" 162
Charles Emmanuel in "King V ictor and
King Charles" . . . . . . . . 164
Count Gismond in "Count Gismond" . . . . . 166
Pope S ixtu s in "The Bean-Feast" . . . . . 167
The type of man im m ortalized by
sublim ation of s e lf ................................... 169
Luria in " L u ria" ................................................ 169,
Pheidippides in "Pheidippides" . . . . . . 172
The boy so ld ier in "Incident of the
French Camp" .......................... . . . . . . . . 174
The Ita lia n P atriot in "The Ita lia n
in E n g la n d " .................................................................. 175
The type of man ennobled by a mere glim pse
of in fin ite tru th 176
viii
CHAPTER PAGE
Abt Vogler in "Abt V o g l e r " ........................................177
P aracelsus in "P aracelsus” ......................... 178
S ordello in ”Sordello" .............................................. 1$1
Rene Gentilhomme in "The Two Poets of
C r o i s i c " .................................... 1$3
Lazarus in "An E p i s t l e " .................................... IS4
Ixion in " I x i o n " ..................................................................1£>5
The Lawyer in "Ponte D e ll’ Angelo, Venice" 1B6
Sebald, Ju les, Luigi, and Monsignor in
"Pippa P a s s e s " .............................. 1$3
David in " S a u l " .......................................................................193
Rabbi Ben Ezra in "Rabbi Ben Ezra" . . . . 194
CONCLUSION . ..........................' ........................................................................197
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 199
