Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Discussion Questions
811:
- What is
a soliloquy?
- Explain
the significance, according to the editors, of Browning's
use of the dramatic monologue.
"Porphyria's Lover"
(1836/1842)
813-14:
- Why does her lover strangle Porphyria?
- How does the speaker compare with
the lover in Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
- Are we supposed to sympathize with the speaker?
Explain.
814:
"My Last Duchess" (1842)
817:
- What is a heart "too soon made glad" (22)?
- Explain lines 31-34.
- What is stooping (42-43)?
818:
- How does the bronze of Neptune compare in the Duke's mind
with the painting of his last wife (or with his last wife
herself)?
Other Discussion Questions:
812:
- What, according
to the editors, fascinated Browning about the Renaissance?
"Porphyria's Lover"
(1836/1842)
813:
- What does porphyria mean?
"Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister"
814:
- Why does the speaker abhor Brother Lawrence?
815:
816:
- How is irony employed in stanza nine (see footnote 9)?
