"My barbarous illustrations" : animal imagery in the poetry of Robert Browning.

Park Honan once remarked that Robert Browning's poetry "seems to be packed with references to more animals than probably exist in any city zoo." This dissertation is the product of a comprehensive study not of all animals which appear in Browning's poetry but of those animals used by the poet in metaphoric constructions. Employing a New Critical methodology which emphasizes Browning's use of language, the following chapters contain close readings of various passages from the poems in an effort to examine how individual animal images function as rhetorical figures in Browning's work. A substantial part of the ensuing discussion also deals with the use to which these images are put and their place in the overall thematic structure of the poems in which they appear. The dissertation, which consists of six independent chapters united by a common subject, is meant to suggest the multitudinous ways in which an appreciation of Browning's animal imagery can provide fresh insight both into the poems themselves as well as into the mind which created them.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• DiMassa, Michael V.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Herring, Jack W., 1925-1999.

• Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 -- Criticism and interpretation.
• Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 -- Symbolism.
• Figures of speech in literature.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14579

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14579