Andrea del Sarto , written by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue based on the life of an Italian painter Andrea d’Agnolo. He was a contemporary of Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. He was given some amount of money by the king to buy some Italian paintings which he never did instead build a house and satisfied his wife’s desires and needs. Apart from the such psychological musings of human conflicts, Browning also drives attention to his love poem Meeting at Night
The poem recounts and recalls back the actions of the painter and the subtitle The Faultless Painter is given to him because he was a man who was perfect in technical painting. The poem gives a discourse on his life as well as his realization of betrayal and coming to terms with life. Browning has given a touch of Victorian attitude along with the idea of art for life’s sake where art has a moral purpose. It is clearly projected in the poem where the painter comes back to his moral sense on art and life as whole.
The dramatic monologue always opens up with an intensified action. The action in the poem holds a different perspective on reality and opens with a message on psychological distress of the painter as well as the action itself. It seems that the painter and his wife Lucrezia had been fighting for a long time and the painter demands her to come closer to him. This scene shows the intensity of action where the couples are quarrelling and Andrea trying to convince his wife to be intimate towards him. It also throws light metaphorically on other reality where it shows the inner turmoil that the painter itself is quarrelling within himself.
The writing aspect of dramatic monologue is the conscious flow of time. In the poem , Andrea focuses on his own life and goes back to the time of past where he recounts his mistakes and the things he did especially the money that was given to him by the King which he used it to build a house in Fiesole and to satisfy his wife’s needs. He comes to terms about his life where he now realises that though he is a faultless painter yet there is something lacking in his painting and that is rooted due to his inner soul that is dishonest. This epiphanic moment is beautifully expressed in the poem where he looks outside the window and sees the beauty of Fiesole where he hears the last bells of the church, feels the chill autumn in the wind . He could see in this images the death and decay of his creativity being included in his “twilight piece “.
The another feature of a dramatic monologue is inner conflict of the character. Andrea exhibited inner conflict of guilt and realization. He is in a state of inner conflict within himself where he feels guilty for his past and has now comes to terms with his mistakes to refresh his inner dishonesty. He has now realised his mistakes and guilty and it flows throughout the poem. One of the important scene that is depicted in the poem is his painting being compared to his contemporaries of Raphael and Michelangelo where he believed that their paintings were admired as it inspired from the inner soul. Though his painting had marked great in the public eye yet he was unable to project the inner soul like his contemporary in his art. He was called a faultless painter yet he realises now that his painting is perfect in technicality but lacks the inner soul and could not grasp it.
However , the dramatic monologue also helps in the characterization of the character. Andrea del Sarto was a great painter and even acquired a name The Faultless Painter. One can observe that he was a dishonest man because he betrayed the King and used up the money for his benefit and gain. He had chose money over the masterpieces of art and hence it gives justice to the reason pertaining to the lack of inner soul in his work or art. Since his inner soul is dishonest and corrupt as well as materialistic, it affected his painting. One can also observe that Browning had used a Victorian notion of materialistic mindset where Andrea also possessed the same Victorian attitude of being materialistic. One can also assess the character of Andrea that he is a man who has failed both in art and life as well. Many artists uses art to earn their livelihood but he used the money to build a house and for materialistic terms. Hence , his betrayal to the King Francis led to his betrayal to art that is reflected upon in the decay of his creativity due to his dishonest soul. He was also a failure in life as his wife committed infidelity and fallen for a cousin where he could not get in terms with his cheating wife as well. Hence , he may enjoy being called as the faultless painter yet his life is completely in shambles.
Furthermore , Browning was a Victorian poet and the dramatic monologue propagates art for life’s sake in the poem. It is seen where the poem gives a sense of morality and a purpose is served through art itself. Andrea , who is a painter realizes his own mistake and guilt that reshapes back his life reflecting the ideology of art for life’s sake. It is used to teach the society to regain the consciousness of religion and moral values in the society. The poem projects how materialism can divert the person from morality and spiritual path and is seen in the character of Andrea who got diverted in his life as well. Hence we can say that Browning also propagated the idea of art for life’s sake.
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