Summary and Analysis of Three Criticisms from, "Appendix B: Initial Responses to the Poem [The Ring and The Book]"

Summary of, “Richelieu” [unidentified], Vanity Fair 1 (November 28, 1868): 46-47

            Within this criticism the author discusses how well he/ she, (the author is unknown), has enjoyed Browning’s, The Ring and the Book. The author also discusses how this work is a “protest against the atheistic belief that men and women are the creatures of the circumstances” (774). The author believes that Browning is the “spiritual athlete” of poetry, and that it is  most apparent within this particular work of his (774). Not only does the author believe that Browning is the spiritual athlete of poetry, but he/ she also believes that Browning brings new thoughts to the area of poetry. The author actually compares Browning’s ideas to a Roman gladiator, and that it is not an actual fight that Browning is in, but instead a fight with reality, that he seems to have won. This critic does believe, however, that The Ring and The Book, is not for everyone. The author states, “If people do not want the reality, with the occasional ruggedness of Nature, they had better not trouble themselves to open the book…” (774). While this critic believes that Browning’s ideas are what have set him apart from other poets, he/ she also believes that it is Browning’s ideas that also may repel some readers from his work.

Summary of, [Unsigned], Spectator 41 (December 12, 1868): 1464-66

            Within this criticism the author feels that Browning’s work within, The Ring and The Book, is some of his [Browning’s] best by far.  Although the author does feel that Browning follows some of his “typical” routines within this work, much like his others, the author still believes that The Ring and The Book had created something more than some of Browning’s other works were able to do. The author states, “[Browning] overflows, as he always overflows, in intellectual point, in acute comment, in quaint illness. He is, as he always is, semi-dramatic, with the keenest of all eyes for every qualifying circumstance which alters the point of view each age and each individual,--never quite dramatic, for we never lost sight of the critical eye of the poet himself…” (774-775). Although this portion from the criticism may seem as though the author is being judgmental of Browning’s work, as we read further into the criticism we see that the author is actually stating that because Browning does all of these things within his work and because he keeps his work unique, it makes his work all the better.  Later in the criticism the author compares Browning’s work to that of an artist. “He [Browning] paints, as he always paints, with wonderful swiftness and brilliance, but also with a certain willful carelessness and singularity,--somewhat like the qualities in old David Cox’s fine water-colour sketches,--and with a singular contempt for sweetness and finish style” (775). The author of this criticism believes that once the reader is able to look past Browning’s obscurities, past all of the odd language, and past the “irregular style” of Browning’s work, that is when the reader will truly be able to see the beauty of it all (776). This critic believes that it is Browning’s obscurities that makes his work so wonderful. Much like an artist, Browning uses his own unique style within each of his works, and that is what this critic believes, sets Browning apart from other poets of his time.

Summary of, [Robert W. Buchanan], Athenaeum (December 26, 1868): 875-76

            Within this criticism Robert W. Buchanan begins by stating that no other works from Browning have ever truly allowed Browning to show all of his “peculiarities” (777). Buchanan believes that The Ring and The Book  is an exceptional piece and that Browning truly has no rivals because his work sets him so far apart, (in a good way), from other poets. “Everything Browningish is found here,--the legal jauntiness, the knitted argumentation, the cunning prying into detail, the suppressed tenderness, the humanity,--the salt intellectual humor,” this work is all Browning and it is all wonderful, in the eyes of Buchanan. Buchanan continues on within his criticism to compare Browning to Dickens. Although Buchanan believes that the two writers do have a few similarities, Buchanan believes that it is not just their similarities that make them both great, but also their unique approaches that they have to their writing. While Buchanan believes that Browning’s obscurities are what makes his work worth reading, he knows that these obscurities are the things that also repel readers from Browning’s works. However, like other critics, Buchanan believes that a reader must look past the obscurities within Browning’s poetry in order to see the beauty within them. At the end of the criticism, Buchanan states that while Browning’s monologue has seemed to replace Shakespeare’s drama, it is not one or the other that society needs, but both; as both works are equally wonderful and well-executed in their own manner(s) of uniqueness.  

Analysis of the three works

            These criticisms were very interesting to me because many of the criticisms that I have read on Browning’s work have been rather negative, in terms of how they, the critics, feel that Browning’s work was executed. Many critics did not feel that Browning had any purpose behind his work and most did not understand the obscure ways in which Browning executed his writings. So, when I read these criticisms I was somewhat surprised that all three of the critics took to, The Ring and The Book, extremely well.
            It is rather unfortunate that Browning’s works did not receive positive recognition until his wife, Elizabeth, died. Although Browning’s works are very obscure in thought and execution, they have an interesting tone to them. For example, within “Childe Rolan to the Dark Tower Came,” readers do not fully know whether Childe Rolan is physically on the quest to the dark tower, or whether he is emotionally/ religiously on a quest within his self to find a great understanding within his life. Although, the readers are not told whether or not Childe Rolan is physically or mentally on the quest, that it part of what makes this particular poem some great. Readers are not told how they need to perceive the poem; instead they are given the ability to perceive it themselves.  Although this is part of what many earlier critics disliked about Browning’s poems—the inability for them to get to a true “purpose,”—it seems to me that this is one of Browning’s greatest qualities. Browning does not have to relay a “purpose” to his readers because his purpose belongs to his readers. I believe that these three critics were completely right, in the fact that once you allow yourself to see past the obscurities of Browning’s work that you can finally see the beauty behind them as well. Browning’s work is beautiful in its own way, much like a painter’s art, and what is wonderful about a painter’s work and Browning’s work is that both allow their viewers to determine their own meaning and purpose behind what is intended for them to see.

Works Cited:

[Unsigned], Spectator 41 (December 12, 1868): 1464-66. Ed. Thomas J. Collins and Richard D. Altick. Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2001. 774-75. Print.

"Richelieu" [unidentified], Vanity Fair 1 (November 28, 1868): 46-47. Ed. Thomas J. Collins and Richard D. Altick. Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2001. 774. Print.

[Robert W. Buchanan], Athenaeum (December 26, 1868): 875-76. Ed. Thomas J. Collins and Richard D. Altick. Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2001. 777-78. Print.

© [Mykenzie Fox] [http: // COUNTGISMOND.blogspot.com/ ], [2013]. Unauthorized use and/ or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/ or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Mykenzie Fox] and [http: // COUNTGISMOND.blogspot.com/ ] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Medieval Love versus Sexualized Love: An Analysis of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Poem, “The Romance of the Swan’s Nest”

The poem, “The Romance of the Swan’s Nest,” was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1844. This was one of Elizabeth’s earlier poems, and like many of her other early poems, this poem is based on romance and the idea of finding love. “[The poem] evokes the pattern of love and courtship established by medieval romances” (Stone 174). Elizabeth has created a poem that not only focuses on the idea of medieval love, but also focuses on the love in 1844 and the idea that women are typically sexualized by men during this time period. For example within this poem the speaker, Little Ellie, is not only in search for love, but also begins to realize the true meaning behind the love that will someday find her. While Little Ellie had hopes of finding a love that would exalt her and would be solely revolved around her own needs as a woman, the reality is that this form of love does not exist for Little Ellie nor does it exist for Elizabeth. By understanding these main components, readers can begin to analyze and appreciate each of the major sections within the poem.

            There are four main sections within this poem. In the first three stanzas Elizabeth has created an introduction for her speaker, Little Ellie. These stanzas begin to talk about Little Ellie and describe her as she sits by the stream side.

            She [Little Ellie] has thrown her bonnet by,
                        And her feet she has been dipping
                        In the shallow water’s flow,
                         Now she holds them nakedly
            In her hands, all sleek an dripping,

                         While she rocketh to and fro. (7-12)

 What is interesting about these stanzas is these are the first stanzas within the poem that readers actually begin to see Little Ellie as being a sexualized figure. Although Elizabeth does not bluntly tell her readers that Little Ellie is being sexualized within the poem, she [Elizabeth] uses figurative language as a way to imply this to her readers. Also, within this portion of the poem Elizabeth uses figurative language as a way to describe Little Ellie’s features. As she begins to describe these features Little Ellie becomes alive within the poem. Readers begin to sense that Little Ellie is still very young, not only by her name implication, but also by the “innocence” and “sweetness” of Little Ellie that seems to be portrayed within these lines. This is the only portion of the poem where Little Ellie is not the speaker. Instead at this point in the poem the speaker seems to be someone who is merely watching Ellie and is describing her as she sits along the stream. However, it seems as if Elizabeth has set this portion of the poem to show that this is actually a memory from Little Ellie’s past. Meaning the entire poem is told from Little Ellie’s point of view, but at this point Little Ellie is older and reflecting upon what she used to be.  There is then a shift in the subject matter and the speaker within the next stanzas of the poem.

            The second section of this poem begins at stanza four and goes until stanza eight.  Within this portion of the poem the poem is no longer describing Little Ellie and the speaker. In stanza four there is a shift of speakers from the remembering tone of an older Ellie, to a telling tone of the younger Ellie. This is the portion of the poem where Little Ellie begins to describe her lover. Although Little Ellie does not yet have a lover, she has created the ideal “man” within her head based upon what she knows of the men of the  medieval times.

                        “And the steed shall be red-roan,

            And the lover shall be noble,

                        With an eye that takes the breath.

                        And the lute he plays upon,

            Shall strike ladies into trouble,

                        As his sword strikes men to death. (25-30)
           

Within this section of the poem we also can see the implication that Little Ellie is being sexualized. Instead of calling the man of her dreams something sophisticated and pleasant she instead calls him her “lover.” Typically, when one truly loves someone they do not call a man or a woman their “lover,” and, more importantly for this time period, a girl of Ellie’s age does not call a man her “lover” at all because it tends to imply something more than just love is occurring within the relationship. Also within this portion of the poem readers begin to see the emphasis upon the medieval times. At this point within the poem Little Ellie really begins to bring forth the idea that her man needs to be noble, needs to fight for her love, and that he would need to place her on a pedestal as a way to showcase his love for her. “Build the shrine my soul abides in,/ And kneel here for thy grace” (41-42). Once she has found the man who possess these features Ellie feels that she will be able to show her “lover” the swan’s nest amongst the reeds. This is the first area within the poem that the swan’s nest is mentioned and used as way to compare Ellie’s love to that of her lover’s; because her lover has showcased his love for her she feels that she can showcase her love for him. One must ask, however, what Elizabeth was implying with the use of the swan’s nest amongst the reeds? Although it is not a continuous repetition throughout the poem’s stanzas, the slight repetition that this does have seems to imply, within itself, that the swan’s nest amongst the reeds has a much broader meaning. The swan’s nest amongst the reeds does not appear within the poem again until the last section of the poem.

            The third section of the poem is from stanzas eight to thirteen. Within this portion of the poem Ellie continues to use figurative language as a way to describe what her lover will do once he has realized his love for her. This portion of the poem continues to emphasize the medieval love within the imagination of Little Ellie. 

                        “Then he’ll ride among the hills

            To the wide world past the river,

                        There to put away all wrong;

                        To make straight distorted wills,

            And to empty the broad quiver

                        Which the wicked bear along. (55-60).

At this point within the poem, although Ellie’s lover has showcased his love for her, she has sent him off to fulfill his rightful duties. As she sends the foot-page to ask her lover when he shall call upon her love again, Ellie begins to think what she shall do when her lover returns, if he returns. This portion of the poem begins to foreshadow what is about to happen to Little Ellie.  This brings readers into the last section of the poem.

            In the fourth section of the poem, which is stanzas fourteen to seventeen, Ellie’s innocent day-dream abruptly shifts. At first this portion of the poem is very happy and lighthearted, as it was throughout the other sections. Stanza fourteen describes how Ellie’s lover will lead her through the crowd that is praising his noble deeds and that again he will allow her to find the swan’s nest upon the reeds. Yet, as this section continues on the speaker shifts again back to the older Ellie describing herself sitting by the stream. As the day-dream concludes, Little Ellie puts back on her shoes and her bonnet and heads home, but first she must stop to check the swan’s nest upon the reeds. However, as she pushes through the trees, she does not find the pleasant scene that she had before.

            `……………………

                        Past the boughs she stoops—and stops.

            Lo, the wild swan had deserted—

                        And a rat had gnawed the reeds. (94-96)

                        Ellie went home sad and slow.

            If she found the lover ever,

                        With his red-roan of steeds,

                        Sooth I know not! But I know

            She could never show him—never,

                        That swan’s nest amongst the reeds! (97-102)

The third stanza foreshadowed the loss that Ellie was about to experience in these last few stanzas of the poem as Ellie sends her lover off to fulfill his noble deeds. As she sends him away, she also sends away her innocent and naïve thoughts about finding love. While Ellie had found the perfect lover, it was only a day-dream and it did not portray what she was ever really going to find in the world of love.

            It is understandable why Ellie had imagined her lover to be from the medieval times. Like the classical fairy tales of the twenty-first century, the medieval times were alluring with their mystical stories of love. The tales of a man winning his heroines love and exalting with his every breath that he wants nothing more in life than to be able to love her and only her, is every girls’ dream. By understanding why Ellie had romanticized the medieval time period, as viewers romanticize classical fairy tales, readers can begin to understand why most of the poem was based upon Ellie’s day-dream. The implication of the swan’s nest throughout the first few sections of the poem enhances the idea of Ellie’s fairy tale love. As a swan is beautiful and elegant, so is the love that Ellie hopes to find. Yet, like most fairy tales, there is no focus on the reality behind the tale, behind the marriage, and behind the love. By realizing that Ellie was not focusing on the reality of things, readers can also begin to understand why the poem ends as it does. While a medieval romance may seem mystical and seem to be a true fantasy, Ellie does not realize what marriage truly was or is and what it holds for her. During the medieval time most, if not all, marriages “were not based on love” and were simply “political and social arrangements,” yet Ellie is not able to realize any of this until the end of the poem (Marriage 1). The inability that Ellie has to focus on the reality of marriage depicts Ellie’s innocent and naïve nature, which also is an implication of what the swan’s nest meant at the beginning of the poem. A swan is not only elegant, but is also innocent in its features; the swan itself represents Ellie, as it also represents Ellie’s longing for love.

            Like the swan’s nest, however, Ellie’s innocent and naïve nature, as well as her longing for love, does not last throughout the entire poem. By the fourth section of the poem Ellie’s day-dream has ended and she is abruptly brought back to the reality of life, as she finds what has become of the swan’s nest. “Lo, the wild swan had deserted--/And a rat had gnawed the reeds’ (95-96). As the rat has destroyed the swan’s eggs and nest, reality has destroyed Ellie’s dreams of love. As Ellie began to realize the love that she would find, her innocent and naïve thoughts were destroyed with the swan eggs. The love that Ellie is to find will not be the medieval love that she had longed for. Ellie will not be placed upon a pedestal by her lover, but will instead be sexually objectified by her lover. Ellie will not able to find a man who wanted to exalt her, but instead a man that would see her as a possession. By seeing the “sexualization” of Ellie throughout the poem readers may understand the love that Ellie is subjected to find based upon her current circumstance(s). The love that Ellie would be subjected to find would not be elegant and mystical, like the swan, but would be crude and distasteful, like the rat. Ellie is sexualized by Elizabeth throughout the poem because at this time frame women were seen as nothing more than possessions to the men. Ellie’s thoughts of finding a fairy tale love had to be destroyed with the swan eggs because she too had to become a possession.

            Being a possession to a man versus being exalted by a man, are two very different things. The ending of the poem leaves readers wondering if Elizabeth had been questioning the beauty of love and of marriage at the time that she had written the poem. Little Ellie wanted to find a love that was worthwhile; however, this was not the love that society had created for her. Ellie’s elegant love was destroyed by society, as the swan’s eggs were destroyed by the rat and there was no way that Ellie would ever be able to find that love again, just as the swan would never find her eggs.

Works Cited:

Browning, Elizabeth B. "The Romance of the Swan's Nest." Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Selected Poems. Ed. Marjorie Stone and Beverly Taylor. Ontario: Broadview Editions,   2009. 173-78. Print.

"Marriage in the Medieval Era." Great Northern Medieval Fayre: All Things Medieval and             Renaissance. Crackers Production, 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. 

© [Mykenzie Fox] [http: // COUNTGISMOND.blogspot.com/ ], [2013]. Unauthorized use and/ or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/ or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Mykenzie Fox] and [http: // COUNTGISMOND.blogspot.com/ ] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.