Summary:
The first essay I read was by Robert W. Buchanan from the Athenaeum. Buchanan opens the essay by calling Browning, "The opus magnum of our [Buchanan and his peers] generation," (787). He also states that readers of The Ring and the Book (RAB) will be unable to decide, "which to admire most, the supremely precious gold of the material or the wondrous beauty of the workmanship. Buchanan says that Browning's work has him so much in awe that he is struggling to write about it; however, he must write his "convictions" as soon as possible. Buchanan describes RAB as the, "Most precious and profound spiritual treasure that England has produced since the days of Shakespeare," (787). He also admits that, although the book is difficult to read, anyone who does not finish it for that reason is only attempting to, "hide his moral littleness, not his mental incapacity," (788).
I chose to read the letter from Edward FitzGerald to Alfred Tennyson because he mentions the previous review in Athenaeum. Fitzgerald writes to Tennyson to ask his opinion on RAB because he is unable to finish it, despite the good reviews by the Athenaeum. He says to Tennyson, "I want to know what you yourself think of this poem; you who are the one man to judge of it, and magnanimous enough to think me capable of seeing what is fine in it," (791). He also mentions how he is unable to read Browning at all and he wonders what the readers of Milton, Shakespeare, Pope, and Tennyson might think of RAB. The reply to FitzGerald's letter did not survive but in another letter FitzGerald says, "It seems to me an audacious piece of defiance to the Public whom he [Browning] has found so long blind to his Merits," (792).
The third review I chose to read was "Richelieu" [unidentified], Vanity Fair 1. The author's opening line describes RAB as, "Deeply, intensely, human," and "a burning protest against the atheistic belief that men and women are creatures of circumstances," and is also, "asserts a Presence in the world," (774). The author compares Browning to a Roman gladiator, defending into the arena and grappling "with terrible realities, and hold death itself in his strong grip," (774). He tells readers who do not want reality to look elsewhere because RAB is not for them.
Analysis:
Like FitzGerald, I find RAB very hard to read. I thought it would be simple because it is in poetic form and I though I could read through it at a quicker pace than if it were in novel form; but I was very wrong. Even just reading the two book (V and VII) has been difficult and I find myself constantly re-reading the footnotes and looking up bible verses in order to try and grasp Browning's meaning. Like most of his poems, his meaning is obscure to me and even after doing some outside research I am unable to understand him.
There is one thing I have found interesting, however, and I didn't think about it until I read the last review in my summary. The author mentions how RAB is a "burning protest of against the atheistic belief that men and women are creatures of circumstances," (774). After reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, the major theme of which is Naturalism and the lack of a "Presence" that guides people, I like the author of the review's idea that Browning is fighting that very idea. Although Tess was published after RAB, the idea of Naturalism was prevalent during the time of RAB's publication and I like to see Browning fighting against that idea.
Word Cited
Browning, Robert. The Ring and the Book. Broadview Press, Print.
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