Date of Award
12-4-1970
Degree Type
Master's Essay - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
First Advisor
Joseph Schwartz
Abstract
In an age when a visit to Bedlam provided a Sunday afternoon's diversion, one cannot expect to find a coherent rationale behind insanity, eccentricity, or extreme behavior. Just as tastes in "recreation" have changed so, too, there has been a shift in the way critics view Browning's eccentric characters. The Victorian critic operated within a moral frame of reference and his world was one in which the good - evil dichotomy was still available concept. If it appears to the modern sensibility that the Victorian critic evades the problem of the eccentric personality, it is because of a shift in perspective between the two ages. The modern critic views the eccentric from a psychological standpoint and often interprets abnormality according to scientific rather than morally evaluative criteria.
Recommended Citation
Siefert, Susan, "Browning's Use of Eccentricity in Six Poems" (1970). Master's Essays (1922 - ). 2071.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/essays/2071
Comments
An essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts to the faculty of the department of English at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin