Welcome to Robert Browning: Masters of the Criminal Mind

Hello! This chapter dives into the fascinating, often disturbing, world of Robert Browning's poetry. You might think poetry and crime don't mix, but Browning is a master at exploring the darkest corners of human nature. This section focuses on how his poems—specifically using the lens of the Elements of Crime and Mystery—reveal transgression, motive, guilt, and the unsettling pursuit of justice.

By studying these poems, you will learn to analyze:

  • The psychology of the criminal (their motives and justifications).
  • How the poetry structure (the dramatic monologue) creates mystery and suspense.
  • The varying concepts of justice, retribution, and punishment in Victorian society and beyond.

Browning's Core Tool: The Dramatic Monologue

To understand crime in Browning, you must first understand his preferred poetic structure: the dramatic monologue.

What is a Dramatic Monologue?

It is a poem where one speaker addresses a silent listener at a critical moment. The speaker reveals their character, often unintentionally, through their own words.

Why This Structure Creates Mystery and Crime Focus:

  1. Unreliable Narration: We only hear one side of the story. The speaker, often the criminal, is trying to justify or excuse their actions. The mystery lies in figuring out the *real* truth behind their biased account.
  2. Intimate Confession: We are placed directly into the mind of the criminal, forced to witness their darkest thoughts and most shocking justifications (or lack thereof).
  3. Absence of Moral Commentary: Browning rarely judges the speaker directly. The audience must become the detective and the jury, analyzing the language for clues of guilt, malice, or insanity.

Memory Aid: Think of the Dramatic Monologue (DM) as a "Direct Message" from the killer, but they think you are just a friend.

Analysis of Crime and Mystery in Key Poems

1. My Last Duchess (Crime of Control and Murder)

The Nature of the Crime and Criminal

This poem features one of literature's most chilling criminals: the Duke of Ferrara.

  • The Crime: The Duke discusses his "last Duchess," whose portrait hangs on the wall. He hints that he "gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together." This is a veiled, arrogant confession of murder, strongly implying he had her killed because she was too cheerful and independent.
  • Motive: Power and Status. The Duchess failed to adequately appreciate the "gift" of his "nine-hundred-years-old name." The Duke demands absolute control, treating his wife like an object in his collection.
  • Mystery and Unraveling: The mystery (how she died) is not formally solved by detection but is casually unveiled by the Duke himself. His cool, detached language (focusing on the painting's art before moving on to arranging his next marriage) is far more disturbing than a graphic description of the crime.

Key Takeaway: The crime here is not just murder, but the chilling transformation of a victim into property. The Duke is the ultimate unrepentant criminal, more concerned with his status than remorse.

2. Porphyria’s Lover (Crime of Passion and Pathology)

Guilt, Punishment, and Psychological Transgression

This is a terrifying portrait of delusion and murder, focusing intensely on the criminal's twisted justification.

  • The Crime: The speaker strangles Porphyria with her own hair. This is a violent act of homicide.
  • Motive: The speaker wants to preserve a moment of perfect, absolute ownership and devotion. He realizes Porphyria idolizes him, and to prevent her from ever leaving or changing, he kills her.
  • Absence of Guilt/Justice: Crucially, the speaker feels no remorse. He believes his act was justified and even blessed by God ("And yet God has not said a word!"). This creates a profound sense of unresolved justice and psychological horror.
  • Setting as Backdrop: The isolated cottage and the raging storm outside act as a perfect, confined backdrop for the impulsive, secret criminal act.

Did you know? This poem is often considered one of the earliest psychological studies of a psychopath in English literature.

3. The Laboratory (Crime of Revenge and Jealousy)

Settings, Motives, and Suffering

This poem is pure, thrilling crime fiction, driven by female jealousy and the desire for violent retribution.

  • The Crime: The female speaker is planning to murder her rival, and possibly others, using poison prepared in a chemical laboratory. This is a calculated act of premeditated murder.
  • Motive: Jealousy and Vengeance. She is infuriated that another woman has stolen the attention of her lover (or husband).
  • Setting and Backdrops: The laboratory is the central backdrop for the criminal action. It’s presented not as a place of science, but as a dangerous, hidden arsenal for death. The vivid details of the poison preparation create suspense and repugnance.
  • Victim and Suffering: While the rival hasn't died yet, the speaker clearly relishes the thought of her suffering ("Let it burn deep!"). The poem focuses on the *anticipation* of the crime and the mental suffering (rage) of the criminal.

Quick Review: Browning's most successful crime poems feature characters who are either completely unremorseful or actively enjoy the pursuit of revenge.

4. The Confessional (Crime of Betrayal and Injustice)

The Legal System and Religious Transgression

This poem shifts the focus from individual murder to institutional betrayal and social injustice.

  • The Crime: The priest/church commits a massive transgression. They convince the female speaker to confess her lover's revolutionary thoughts, only to use that confession to capture and execute him. This is a crime of betrayal, legal manipulation, and abuse of power.
  • Confession and Justice: The poem critiques the concept of confession when faith is abused. The speaker confesses, seeking spiritual guidance, but this leads directly to the injustice of her lover's execution.
  • Punishment and Retribution: The speaker faces the loss of her lover (suffering), but she vows to expose the hypocrisy of the priest. Her final words suggest a desire for retribution against the system that betrayed her.

5. Count Gismond (Crime, Slander, and Restoration of Order)

Moral Purpose and Resolution

This poem is one of the few in the collection that aims toward the restoration of moral order.

  • The Crime: Gauthier, driven by malice, slanders the speaker's reputation, accusing her of moral degradation to ruin her socially and prevent her marriage. This is a serious social crime of defamation and malicious intent.
  • Resolution and Justice: Count Gismond defends the speaker's honour through trial by combat. When Gismond wins, Gauthier's crime is proved, and Gauthier is slain. This medieval form of justice immediately restores the speaker's good name and the social order.
  • The Structural Pattern: The text moves clearly from prosperity (her engagement) to crisis (the slander) and swiftly to resolution (Gismond’s victory), which satisfies the Victorian need for justice to prevail.

Analogy: Think of *Count Gismond* as a satisfying, old-fashioned courtroom drama where the villain gets his comeuppance quickly and publicly.

6. Time’s Revenges (Crime of Emotional Betrayal)

The Sense of Mystery and Motives

This poem focuses on a quieter, yet profound, transgression: emotional betrayal and the complex nature of human attachment.

  • The Crime: The speaker laments that the woman he loved married another man (the "boor" with the "fat smooth paw"). The implied crime is emotional short-sightedness or betrayal of true feeling for worldly comfort (money/status).
  • Time’s Revenge: The speaker hopes that Time itself will act as the great avenger. The revenge is not violent death, but the slow, painful realization by the woman that she chose wrongly, sentencing herself to a miserable life.
  • Motifs: The poem explores the motif of money and power (the rich husband) versus true love (the speaker).

7. The Patriot (Crime Against the State and Public Opinion)

Punishment, Retribution, and Social Commentary

This poem critiques the swift and brutal nature of political retribution and public fickleness.

  • The Crime: The speaker is being led to execution for what the state perceives as a failure or treasonous act. The mystery is *why* his popularity plummeted so quickly—the text only gives us his perspective that his deeds were good.
  • Punishment: He is subjected to public humiliation and execution ("I go in the rain, and, more than needs, / A rope cuts both my wrists behind").
  • Social Commentary: Browning uses this rapid shift (from hero to criminal) to comment on society's volatility. The poem highlights the injustice of political trials where the people’s mood replaces true evidence or legal process. The crime is relative to the mob's temporary judgement.

Common Mistake to Avoid: Don't confuse the speaker's actual guilt (which is unknown) with the public's perception. The focus is on the mechanism of retribution, not the deed itself.

8. The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Civic Crime and Moral Justice)

The Nature of the Criminal and Moral Order

Although often read as a narrative poem, *The Pied Piper* offers a clear study in civic corruption and strange retribution.

  • The Crime (Original Transgression): The Mayor and Corporation commit a civic crime by breaking a contract and refusing to pay the Piper for removing the rats. This is a transgression against moral and financial law, rooted in greed (the motif of money).
  • The Piper’s Retribution (The Consequence): The Piper exacts his revenge by luring away the children. This act is the poem's central ‘crime’—a strange kidnapping and mass disappearance.
  • Justice and Moral Purpose: The outcome serves a moral purpose. The town suffers the ultimate punishment (the loss of its future) due to the corruption of its leaders. The structure clearly moves from social disorder (rats/greed) back to a harsh, tragic form of order (the town learning its lesson too late).


Summary: The Browning Criminal Checklist

When analyzing these poems in the context of "Elements of crime and mystery," always ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Motive vs. Justification: What is the true motive (e.g., control, jealousy, greed)? How does the speaker try to justify or confess their transgression? (Applies heavily to *My Last Duchess, Porphyria's Lover, The Laboratory*).
  2. Justice System: Is the justice administered fair, unfair, or absent entirely? Does the poem critique the legal/social/religious system (e.g., trial by combat, religious confession, or mob rule)? (Applies heavily to *Count Gismond, The Patriot, The Confessional*).
  3. The Role of Language: How does Browning's use of language (e.g., irony, chillingly calm tone) heighten the suspense or reveal the terrifying psychology of the criminal?