"Pippa Passes"… Generic Distinctions

Abstract

Robert Browning’s Pippa Passes, published in 1841, is a key work in his general oeuvre, but it is frequently overlooked by critics intent on analysing the anthologised poems of the following collections. The aim of this article is to reassert the importance of the poem by reassessing what is one of Browning’s most daring experiments with genres. First, the polyphonic quality of Pippa Passes resides in the polymorphic aspect of its elusive generic identity and its ever-recomposing structure. The poem rests on echoes and reversals of perspective which tie it together. Moreover, the dramatization of the characters’ voices is illustrated by a wide array of modalities. Finally, the central character Pippa sings songs which trigger an existential crisis for those who hear them. This identity crisis manifests itself by a crisis of speech, which, in the process, paves the way for irony and parody.