Robert Browning The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church - Book Report/Review Example

However, the draught like situation of this era appears to be merely superficial when one considers the names of Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrette and above all Robert Browning (Long 452). The Victorian age is peculiarly known for a plethora of political and social changes that had a profound influence on the poets and the writers of the times. On the one side the political system marched towards modernization with the reorganization of democracy as the pervasive political institution, but on the other side the society edged towards a situation of social unrest owing to the existence of the "unnatural competitive methods" in the factories and workshops (Long 453).

Being an age of comparative peace and friendly foreign relations, finally England had the opportunity to look for the moral evils lurking within its own social set up. Browning was particularly a product of the age when the great Reform Bill caught the attention and expressed the cherished ideals of the Liberals of his times (Long 454). The unprecedented progress in the realm of sciences and arts left a conclusive influence on the poetry and prose of the Victorian age. The post Romantic literary climate in England was gorgeously conducive for all sorts of literary genres varying from straightforward realism to sugary romances.

The age certainly succeeded in producing its own harvest of poets amongst whom the name of Robert Browning undoubtedly qualifies to be ranked amongst the major Victorian poets. The Victorian period decisively severed ties with all the old world notions of art for art's sake and desperately groped for guiding morals and ideals in its literary endeavors. Going by the dominant trend of his times, Browning unambiguously strived for a clear moral purpose and some pragmatic message in most of his works, which is clearly evident in his work "The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church.

" Infact, Browning gave a clear and strong voice to the shimmering optimistic spirit of his times. Though many critics attribute an enervating obscurity to many of the Browning's works, including the work under consideration, still," his strength, his joy of life, his robust faith, and his invincible optimism enter into us, making us different and better men after reading it (Long 471)." One of the greatest hallmarks of the Browning's approach was an evident breakup from the post-Keatsian trend of using sensory images and a rescuing back of the traditional colloquial vigor to the English poetry (Daiches 1002).

Still many of the poems by Browning are not as colloquial as they seem to be and the tools and the techniques employed by him are considered to be artificial and archaic (Daiches 1004). Yet, they amply succeed in giving to the readers a flavor of the period and smack of a starkly detectable individuality "that is the authentic accent of this man at this historical moment in this place (Daiches 1004)" Browning's variegated interest in painting, sculpture and music provided ample material for his dramatic monologues like "The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church.

" The most typical of Browning's poetic forms is the dramatic monologue, wherein the novelty of his art resides (Legouis