How does Browning Treat Love in “Fra Lippo Lippi?”

Answer

How does Browning treat love in “Fra Lippo Lippi?”

Robert Browning’s (1812-89) iconic poem “Fra Lippo Lippi” (1855) explores various dimensions of love. He highlights its complexities through the experiences of the monk-painter Lippo Lippi. The poem reflects on various forms of love. He encompasses earthly desires, spiritual connections, and the love of life itself.

Physical Love: Browning explores Lippo’s excess in physical love and his earthly desires. Lippo is caught in a red-light district. He defends his purpose of bodily pleasures. It reflects his inner conflict between religious and natural tendencies. Lippo views physical love and desires as natural parts of being human. It reinforces the idea that love is not solely spiritual but also physical.

Love as Artistic Inspiration: Love acts as a powerful source of inspiration for Lippo’s art. His appreciation for the beauty in everyday life and human relationships fuels his creative work. He argues that by depicting real beauty, he can reveal deeper truths. He can evoke a sense of wonder. Lippo states, 

Simple beauty and nought else,

You get about the best thing God invents:

It suggests that love and beauty in the physical world are divine and worthy of artistic representation. This belief drives him to include elements of love and beauty in his paintings.

Spiritual Love: Lippo’s relationship with art is meshed with spiritual love. He believes that capturing the beauty of the physical world can reveal the divine. When discussing his paintings, Lippo says, 

For, don’t you mark? we’re made so that we love

First when we see them painted, things we have passed

Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see;

Here, Browning suggests that art is driven by love for beauty. It can elevate ordinary things to a higher, spiritual level. Lippo’s art becomes a medium through which he expresses his spiritual love for the world’s beauty.

In “Fra Lippo Lippi,” Browning presents love as a multifaceted force that drives human behaviour. It inspires artistic expression and fosters deep connections.