罗伯特·勃朗宁(Robert_Browning).pptVIP

Social Background ( the Victorian Age) Political reform 1. The king and the peers were both stripped of their power 2. The House of Commons became the ruling power 3. A series of new reform bills rapidly extend the suffrage, until the whole body of English people choose for themselves the men who shall represent them. The most important immediate legislative accomplishment of the reformed parliament was the emancipation of slaves in British dominions. ( 1833 ) Popularization of education Advance in technology All the above have been reacted in prose and poetry Early Life Born on May 7,1812, in Camberwell (a suburb of London), first child and only son of Robert Browning and Sarah Wiedemann Browning. Robert was an impulsive, fearless little boy who was also rather a prodigy, writing poems and reading Homer at a very young age. His father encouraged him to read and he had access to his large (6,000 vols) library. In his teens, Browning discovered Shelley, adopting the authors confessionalism in poetry. He learned many languages and devoured his fathers history books. He also liked to read books that were considered rather shocking and not quite suitable for children. Early Life At 16, Robert began attending the newly-formed London University, established for those Nonconformists like Robert who were barred from Oxford and Cambridge. Robert attended for only just over a year, though thanks to his reading, he was really quite an educated man. He also was quite arrogant at times. His family had enough money to support him in these poetical endeavors . His first published work, Pauline, was considered not very good, but promising; His second, Paracelsus, was well-received and Robert was always proud of it. Middle Life He even wrote several stage plays (between 1836 and 1843) which were also well-received, though quite forgotten today. Between 1841 and 1846, he published four books, mainly collections of his shorter