Write a note on Browning's Optimism
The term optimism refers to Leibniz's doctrine that the world is the best of all possible words. This doctrine is the basis of the general belief of Christianity that everything is ordered by god for the best. In some people optimism is also a natural disposition. At the beginning of the 19th century, a wave of morbid pessimism infected the thoughtful people of Europe.
It is also infected European literature first as melancholy, and then as pessimism proper. Browning's note of optimism appeared openly in his drama. Pippa Passes ( 1844 ) Here Pippa, a factory girl, starts thinking how who can best enjoy her holiday.
After several imaginary proposals and hr own rejections, she reaches the conclusion that is a mistake to change places. " God loves her as she he is " She is happy with her lot since all is well and wisely put by god. Then she expresses her optimism, through her song whose most famous lines run as follows :
" God's kin this Heaven
All's right with the world "
Gradually he realizes that he possesses an immortal soul. And incidents of life as experience, knowing and love all go to make development of the soul. Brown King had reached its conclusion by the time he composed. The Lost Leader ( 1845 ) is a leader who had been purchased for gold. It was a victory of evil for the time - being. It was :
" One wrong more to man, one more insult to God. "
Here is Browning's personal optimism. Henceforth he looks upon himself as a spiritual knight errant looking for evil and difficulties. The company of his beloved wife and firm faith in the grace of God supply him with great spirituality. Since he usually composes impersonal poems, he explored the possibilities of spiritual conflicts in his characters.
In the matter of love, Browning is optimistic through and through. He believes that a sincere lover finally wins the hands of his beloved. The basis of this belief in the power of love so in the poem entitled Life in a Love, the lover tells is inviting beloved that she can never escape him, so long as he loved her and the worlds last
" While I am I , and you are you,
So long as the world contains as both.
Me the loving and you the both,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue?
Browning is also optimistic in life. He does not deny the existence of evil or wordly pains yet he believes that human life " means intensely and means good. " Here he starts with the belief, that the main purpose of a man's life is to make spiritual progress, to take his soul out of the dark of ignorance and out of the mud of meanness and selfishness.
Browning's optimism, as reflected in his poetry, is characterized by buoyancy. In other words, it keeps the poet cheerful in the face of difficulties or unpleasant happenings and results, whether real or imaginary. He believes that by being brave he can win :
" For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave "
The second characteristic of is optimism is the boldness of the highest degree. Rare are the men who are not afraid of death. So the third characteristic of his optimism is spiritual fearlessness. When his dear wife died, he bore the pain as calmly as possible.
Evidently, the present life of the soul is a station in the process of spiritual progress - its development. Since the soul has yet to pass through an indefinite number of lives, her present life is a preparation for future ones. Observes a critic: " Browning clearly regards this life as a preparation for more lives , and fuller beyond the veil, a time which, to be spent rightly, must be spent in growth, progress, a constant rising from lower to higher things through a never-ending series of experiences that discipline, be they joys or pains.
He delights in the joys of life, not as ends but means " he greets the pains of life, not as evils, but ass further leans, the cause of struggle indeed, but of health-giving struggle, without which we should be the losers. So Browning's advice is that man should welcome each misfortune. For it will encourage him to a greater effort. A man should work hard to achieve some moments of joy even at the cost of wins three times their value, Says Rabbi Ben Ezra.
Read More-
- Plot construction of 'She Stoops to Conquer'
- English Comedy before Goldsmith
- Sentimental Comedy: Reaction of Goldsmith against it
- Character and role of Miss Neville
- Discuss She Stoops to Conquer as a Sentimental Comedy
- Discuss Goldsmith's View of Sentimental Comedy
- Give an estimate of Goldsmith as a dramatist
- Contribution of Goldsmith as a Dramatist
