Robert Browning, 1812 - 1889
Author of this webpage: Renée Goodvin

Robert Browning was a Victorian poet who is best known for his experimentation with the dramatic monologue and his marriage to fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Born in Camberwell, a London suburb in 1812, Robert Browning was the son of a bank clerk and a kindly, religious-minded woman. During his early years, Browning attended boarding school, traveled a little, and was a student at the University of London for a short time, but in actuality was rarely absent from his parents’ home until he married at age 34.

In 1833, Browning published his first poem, Pauline, a very personal poem. However, an unfavorable review overwhelmed him with embarrassment, and from then on, Browning wrote with obscurity. Browning also tried his hand as a playwright in his early years. His first play, Strafford, was produced in London in 1837, but only lasted four nights. For the next ten years, Browning continued to write plays, but as stage productions, all were failures.

However, his play writing led him to explore the dramatic monologue. In 1842, his first collection of dramatic monologues, Dramatic Lyrics, appeared. Unfortunately for Browning, like his plays, the book was poorly reviewed and not well-received by the public.

In 1845, Robert met Elizabeth Barrett, a well-known contemporary poetess. Their courtship was by every definition of the word romantic and has been the subject of many novels, plays, and movies. In September of 1846, they eloped to Italy, where they remained during their married life. In 1861, Elizabeth died and Robert returned to London with their young son.

Dramatis Personae was published in 1864 and contains some of Browning’s finest monologues. With it Browning at last won popular recognition.

In 1868, his greatest single poem, The Ring and the Book, was published. Based on the proceedings of a murder trail in Rome in 1698, the poem was issued as a series of twelve books, much like a Victorian novel. It established Browning as an important literary figure.

Many scholars claim that during the last two decades of Browning’s life his writings decline somewhat, as they suffer from mechanical repetition of mannerism and excess argumentation. However, he may have been led into this style by the following that he gained during this time period.

In 1889, Robert Browning died and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Selected Robert Browning Timeline:

1812 – Browning was born in Camberwell

1833 – Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession was anonymously published

1837 – Strafford

1840 – Sordello

1841 – 1846 – seven more plays in verse were published

1842 – Dramatic Lyrics

1845 – met Elizabeth Barrett

1846 – Elizabeth and Robert eloped to Italy

1855 – Men and Women

1861 – Elizabeth died; Browning and his son returned to London

1864 – Dramatis Personae

1868 – The Ring and the Book

1889 – Robert Browning died and was buried in Westminster Abbey

The information for Robert Browning's biography was adapted from The Norton Anthology of English Literature, volume 2, 6th ed., p. 1182-1187 and Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.

Robert Browning Links:

Robert Browning: An Overview

An overview of R. Browning from the Victorian Web.

R. Browning - Criticism

Robert Browning Criticism from the Internet Public Library

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