Andrea Del Sarto: A Statement Worthy Of Examination

Part I of Essay
The bittersweet poem Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning is the story of a painter who, with un-Godly amounts of talent, never fulfills his potential in becoming a great, prolific painter, in the exalted ranks of Raphael. Browning attributes this to del Sarto’s wife, as i ....

Part II of Essay
.... Several themes can be inferred from these relatively simple lines. They seem straightforward enough, yet contain deeper, more specific meaning. First of course, the pessimistic mood of the statement must be identified. For to understand the implications of the quote, the pessimism needs to be understood. Browning is writing from the point of view of del Sarto, a severely depressed painter, yet comments like these come from the mind of Browning. How is Browning to know del Sarto’s particular beliefs? In fact, Browning’ s knowledge of ....