| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is a study of Robert Browning’s ideals and realities in his poetry from three angles: art, love and religion. The Victorian age is known as an age of conflicts because the development of industry brings people both confidence and uncertainty. Born in the age, Browning displays how people oscillate between ideals and realities.
To begin with, in chapter one, I will introduce the background of the Victorian age and its positive and negative aspects brought about by the success of industry. As a vital poet in this age, Browning meticulously observes the Victorians’ dilemmas between ideals and realities, which will be discussed respectively in the following chapters. Chapter two will focus on painters’ struggles in art. Many painters hope they can realize their ideals in art; however, they are often obstructed by factors irrelevant to art in reality. In chapter three, I will scrutinize changes of people’s attitudes toward love with reference to ideals, realities, and dilemmas in between. It is noticed that when people agonize in love, it will possibly lead to tragedies in the end.
In chapter four, I will firstly reveal the evil nature hidden in obedience to dogmas. Browning intends to show his disagreement to a contemporary religious movement that takes dogmas as a way to revive people’s belief in religion. In addition, his advice about compromising between ideals and realities in religion will be disclosed by reading “Bishop Blougram’s Apology.” Through the narrator Bishop Blougram in this poem, Browning suggests people should strive to make a compromise in between, rather than emphasize just a single side. The concluding chapter will give a review of what has been discussed in the previous chapters. Through studying Browning’s poetry closely, we can infer that he suggests people should be aware of their conditions and keep on balancing or compromising between ideals and realities. | en_US |