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Page 156 Just as Browning’s character Caliban had outshone Prospero as a philosopher, Browning becomes even more philosophical than Shakespeare. In comparing the subjectivity of the two, according to W.A.Raleigh, one also sees a distinction: “If we try to form some idea of the personality of William Shakspere [sic], we are checked, and find it difficult to get further than the characters of his creations” (1:479). On the other hand, “in trying to reach the personality of Browning,” we get “a sense of personal acquaintance with him” (479). The author concludes that Browning’s sympathy keeps this ‘‘intense subjectivism perfectly free from egotism” (479). Here, perhaps, we most clearly see the effect of the “Essay on Shelley,” as Browning, at least for this critic, embodies the two kinds of poet, combining the dramatic poet with one who also gives us glimpses of his or her own nature. Thus, Browning displays an ability to retain “subjectivism,” although one free from egotism, even in the presence of Shakespearean “objectivity.” The Browning Society members considered religion to be a major difference between Shakespeare and Browning. Although the Society itself was composed of a wide range of members, so much so as to contain both “pious spinsters” and “militant agnostics” (Peterson 1969:6), many of the members believed in Browning as a spiritual teacher. This religious fervor can be seen as early as the Society’s inception, as the co-founder Emily Hickey saw Browning “as a religious poet whose ethical teachings were of supreme value” (Peterson 1969:19). At a time of challenges to traditional Christianity, many writers, including Browning, became secular prophets. Some members clearly saw Browning as a means of salvation, or in one member’s case, a means of rediscovering his faith. A Dr. Berdoe, who had dismissed Christianity after his medical training, later, while a member of the Society, found a reaffirmation of his faith in Browning’s works. In his book on Browning, he wrote that “the feeling came over me that in Browning I had found my religious teacher, one who could put me right on a hundred points which had troubled my mind for many years, and which ultimately caused me to abandon the Christian Faith” (Berdoe 1896:viii-ix). Even Browning’s name was deified, as the “Browningites always capitalized Browning’s nickname: Master” (Peterson 1969:64). The religiosity surrounding Browning would play an important role in his literary canonization. Obviously, Browning’s cultural currency was taking on new value, becoming at the very least equal to Shakespeare’s in some people’s eyes. Most importantly, for the Browning Society and Victorian |
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