Psychological analysis in Browning's poetry

Browning is the self-confessed poet of the human soul. He said, ‘My stress lay on the incidents in the development of the soul, little else is worth study’. Most of his poems are psychological analysis of the characters who speak. The characters speak out telling us all about themselves, revealing their inner self, their mind, feelings, attitudes etc.

            In My Last Duchess, we get a superb analysis of an arrogant Renaissance Duke of Italy. The very first line “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall” is dramatic in tone. The poem presents, from that moment onwards, a remarkable character-study of the Duke and an analysis of the intricate psychological motivations of human nature. The poem presents not only given a vivid picture of the Duke’s temperament, but through his words, we realize the true nature of his last Duchess as well. Here, the irony is that, while the Duke’s words give his personal opinion of the Duchess, we form quite a different opinion from those very words. The Duke’s own narrow-mindedness, stupendous arrogance, supercilious dignity, cruelty, greed and unscrupulousness are revealed in his attempt to present his dead wife in a derogatory light.

            The arrogance and pride of a nine-hundred-years old name has bred inhumanity and callousness in the Duke. Too jealous of this name, he interprets every act of his wife – innocence, simplicity and amiability as he calculated insult to himself. Considering her as a part of his property, he cannot tolerate her smiling at or thanking anyone except himself.

            The Duke’s patronizing attitude is evident in practically every line he utters. The apparent politeness of “Will ye please to sit” does not sufficiently hide the supercilious tone. This line is imperious command couched in polite words.

            His tyrannical attitude is evident when he says that he alone can draw aside the curtain before the picture. Two lines are enough to indicate the effective way in which he dealt with a situation unpleasing to himself –

“I gave commands;

Then all smiles stopped together.”

            The callousness of the Duke could not be more effectively revealed than in the calm and cool dismissal of the memory of his last Duchess with the line:

“There she stands;

As if alive.”

            The Duke is speaking to the envoy of a Count whose daughter he intends to marry. He wants to impress the envoy, and his master the Count, as to the sort of behaviour he expected from the woman he was going to marry. He intimates that he would tolerate no rivals for his next wife’s smiles.

            Andrea Del Sarto is a masterly piece of character-analysis. Here not only is Andrea’s character exposed and his soul dissected, but Lucrezia’s character is also revealed through Andrea’s words. Andrea is a feeble-minded personality who lacks vitality. This poem begins with Andrea Del Sarto’s  pleading with his wife to stay with him for a while more so that he might paint better the next morning and get more money for her.

            In this poem, Andrea muses over his life and work which seem as grey and dull. He is perfect at the technical aspects of art, indeed known as a ‘faultless painter’ according to his contemporary. But he lacks the ‘elevation of mind’ which gives animation to an artist’s work. Rafael, too, was inferior to Andrea in technical skill. But Rafael’s paintings express a spiritual glow and passionate depth easily comprehensible even to a child, and this imaginative depth and range are lacking in Andrea.

            At first Andrea blames his wife for his failure in art. If only Lucrezia had urged him to paint for spiritual glory and not for commercial gain, he might have risen to the artistic heights of Rafael and Michael Angelo. Then he lays the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of God. And eventually, he realized that external stimulus in not of much use when one lacks inner urge. He is one of those half-men who had talent but little will power to achieve greatness. It is only noble aspiration that inspires one to spiritual exaltation:

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what’s a Heaven for?”

            Through the speech of Andrea, we know his marriage, his treatment of King Francis I, his helpless attitude towards his parents dying in poverty, his abject subservient to Lucrezia whose lover’s debts he is willing to pay.

            The end of the poem marks the climax of Andrea’s self-revelation, and it is closely connected with Lucrezia’s character. Embodying his art in her physical perfection and soullessness, Lucrezia reflects a vital element of Andrea’s mental and spiritual condition. Lucrezia frankly leaves Andrea to meet her lover, and Andrea knows of her infidelity. What is more, Andrea declares that he will choose her even in heaven at the cost of artistic glory. Rafael and Michael Angelo and Leonardo Da Vinci will still defeat Andrea in artistic superiority, for Andrea will choose Lucrezea. It is a tragedy of a character which has been marred by soullessness in work and in life.

            A Grammarian’s Funeral, another poem of Browning, as the title indicates, is concerned with the funeral of a grammarian, who is dead. His disciples carry his dead body to a suitable place for burial. In the funeral procession, the leader of the disciples reveals the character of the grammarian through his speech.

            The Grammarian devoted his life to deep study, forgoing all the pleasures of youth, even though he had been as handsome as Apollo. He had become old and weak, his voice grew faltering, but he continued to study enthusiastically. He would eat up the very crumbs of knowledge at the feast of learning and yet not feel fed-up. He would learn all about life from the views of philosophers and poets which were hidden in precious books. He would first form a definite plan of life, see it as a whole with all its interests and responsibilities, and then only begin to live. If he died before then, it would no matter. He wanted no earthly reward which would discount heavenly gain. Low men pursue low ideals and achieve success; this man had such a high ideal that it could hardly be visualized before he died. But he was sure of being rewarded in heaven.