Browning both denied and affirmed the value of biography for an understanding of literature. This book narrates the development of his controversial creative life through responses to his work by five key nineteenth-century figures: John Stuart Mill, William Charles Macready, Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin and Matthew Arnold. It also relates Browning's sense of literary vocation to Victorian publishing. Browning emerges as a writer vividly engaged with contemporary assumptions, yet deeply aware of the unaccountability of writing.

Autorentext
SARAH WOOD teaches English at Mansfield College, Oxford. She has published articles on nineteenth-century poetry and on literary theory.

Inhalt
Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Note on Texts Chronology of Browning's Literary Life Preface Introduction: 'Browning in Westminster Abbey' Pauline and Mill Sordello and the Reviewers Drama, Macready and Dramatic Poetry Browning's Now versus Carlyle's Present Browning and Ruskin: Reading and Seeing Arnold and Translation: The Ring and the Book Publishing, Copyright and Authorship Notes Index