Naji RizigBritish LiteratureMrs. Boagni1 April 2014BiographyRobert Browning was born on 7 May 1812 in Camberwell, London, England. He is the son of Robert and Sara Anna Wiedmen Browning. Despite growing up in a middle-class family, he is considered one of the two major poets of the Victorian era. He attended boarding school from the age of eight until the age of sixteen. He then enrolled at the University of London in 1828. However, he withdrew from the university after a few months because he believed he did not belong there. As a result, much of his education came from tutors and the numerous books found in his father's library. During this time he read many famous works such as Homer's Iliad by Alexander Pope and many romantic poems. His favorite poet was Percy Bysste Shelley. The first poem Browning wrote is Pauline, published in 1833. In 1846 he met his future wife Elizabeth Barrett and they quickly fell in love. They went to Italy where they later eloped, had a son and lived there until his wife's death in 1861. After her death, Browning and his son returned to England and published "The Ring and the Book". It was a series of dramatic monologues related to 17th century murder cases. It was the book that ultimately established his reputation. He continued to publish Dramatic Idyls from 1879 to 1880 and received worldwide fame. Browning is best known for creating the dramatic monologue. In 1881 the Browning Society was founded. Robert Browning and Victorian Literature The Victorian era was a time of harmony, prosperity and self-reliance for Britain. It was the time of Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 until her death in 1901. The novel became the most important… medium of paper… The Victorian era was the height of dramatic monologue. Most of Browning's works have something in common. Browning believed in acting with moods and he believed in extreme moods. Poems that had this recurring theme include "Porphyria's Lover", "Johannes Agri-cole in Meditation", "Soliloquy of the Spanish Choir", and "My Last Duchess". Browning strongly believed in equality between social classes and between the sexes; this is seen in his poems. Religion played an important role in the Victorian era as well as in Victorian poetry. Lord Alfred Tennyson's Ulysses was published in 1842 and is said to be the first true dramatic monologue. Robert Browning is credited with perfecting the dramatic monologue and creating his first poem in the poetic form of the dramatic monologue, thus combining Romantic and Victorian themes together..