British Literature Survey
Path 2: Strong Sample Essays

Robert Browning's long narrative poem The Ring and the Book

option 1: A favorite enquiry concerning Books 6 & 7 involves the exact nature of Caponsacchi and Pompilia's connection, specifically, whether they do or do not love one another in a romantic fashion. Begin by considering all the evidence--every little bit strewn throughout Book 6--and then form a narrow but highly detailed and supported argument concerning the nature of Caponsacchi's dedication to Pompilia. This can be a complicated question, so read carefully. For instance, don't just note where the word "love" appears, but the different ways it is used. You might also reflect on the degree to which you feel compelled to validate Caponsacchi's account of events and motivation.

option 2: compare the rationale used by the Bishop to pull Caponsacchi into service of the Church to that used by the monks who choose to hold onto the undisciplined Fra Lippo Lippi in the poem of the same name. You might consider the uses of art, the desires of the flesh, etc.
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Sample Response #1

In Book 6, Browning makes it strikingly clear that Caponsacchi loves Pompilia. Caponsacchi’s affection for Pompilia emerges through the details of the escape and the entire escape paints itself as an act of love.
        
The elements of Caponsacchi dedication emerge as he pushes all of his priestly obligations and concerns away. The escape involves extreme risk because she has duties as a wife and he has priestly functions to adhere to. Caponsacchi does not deny this evidence since he states, “I am priest and you are wedded wife” but he disregards these facts (6.604). He has spent his life devoting himself to becoming and being a priest and he is willing to give all that up in exchange for Pompilia. With the high risk involved, it is apparent she must mean a great deal to him.

More important than risk, Pompilia delivers Caponsacchi into the world of passion. This emotional awakening spawned by Pompilia takes hold as he says “I put forth no thought—powerless all night” (6.959). He forgets the mental obligations of this priestly nature, and instead, dives into the essence of passion. The main evidence that Pompilia has aroused this in him appears as he acknowledges that “priests/should study passion; how else cure mankind/who come for help in passionate extremes” (6.1376-78-79). Caponsacchi must have lived some sort of passion persuading him to make this epiphany. This qualification was his love for Pompilia. This woman’s keen ability to awaken passion is a man devoted to the comfortable celibacy of priesthood proves to be a key element in the depth of Caponsacchi’s love.

Ultimately, Caponsacchi’s commitment breaks through with intense dedication to her safety and the sorrow in her demise. His devotion seeps through as fear, deep into the escape, as he “kept watch [over her] all night long” and “kept fearing more and more” the chance of failure in their escape(6.1721-22). This striking concern for safety illustrates this commitment as well as the woeful narrative finish of Book 6. He mourns her on many different levels, from the simple wish that “he might have sat beside her on the bench” if she was still here, to a darker concern that he “could have killed him ere he killed his wife(6.2201).” Regardless of how deep the context is, the Priest’s sadness of her death evokes his love for Pompilia.

The romantic connection between Caponsacchi and Pompilia disguises itself through actions instead of actual words that are said. Clearly evident, is the benevolence behind Caponsacchi’s dedication and the love he holds for her in his heart.

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Sample Response #2

The Renaissance movement had great impact on art, politics and especially religion; transforming it from an institution based solely on simplicity and humility to one that revolved around humanity and individual expression. This change is exemplified in Caponsacchi’s description of his entering into the priesthood (in the Ring and the Book, Book 6) and Fra Lippo Lippi’s description of the same experience (in “Fra Lippo Lippi”). These characters’ descriptions differ in the amount of individual freedom, artistically and socially, they would have as priests.

Fra Lippo Lippi was drawn into the ministry at the dawn of the Renaissance, before many of the individualistic based ideals had penetrated the church. Lippi was first made to renounce his ties with the world and its temptations. He says, “Brief, they made a monk of me, I did renounce the world, its pride and greed.” (lines 97-98) Lippi began to show an interest in art, drawing on his textbooks and sketching characters he comes into contact with in the monastery. His focus on details in his art was frowned upon by his superiors. They said to Lippi, “Your business is not to catch men with show, With homage to the perishable clay, But lift them over it, ignore it all, make them forget there’s such a thing as flesh. Your business is to paint the souls of men-“(lines179-183). Lippi was expected to sacrifice his individual expression for the good of the people that he counseled.

Caponsacchi’s experience with the priesthood was just the opposite of Lippi’s. In fact, Caponsacchi almost refused his call into the ministry because he considered his ties with the world too important and difficult to part with. He was then informed that as a priest he wasn’t expected to sacrifice as much as he thought. The Bishop says to Caponsacchi, “Nobody wants you in these latter days/ To prop the Church by breaking your back-bone,-/ As the necessary way was once, we know,” (Book 6, 291-294). The Bishop deems it great enough sacrifice for Caponsacchi, a young man, to devote his life to the Church. He says, “Renounce the world? Nay, keep and give it us!”(Book 6, 309). Unlike the superiors of Lippi, Caponsacchi’s superiors also encouraged him to use his talents and gifts to impress others saying, “Cultivate Assiduous, that superior gift you have/ Of making madrigals…That I may tell the lady, “And he’s ours!”(Book 6, 330-335). Caponsacchi’s experience of priesthood centered around individual freedom that was expected to draw others to the church.

While both had the same title, Lippi and Caponsacchi had very different experiences of priesthood, Lippi’s being very strict and stifling and Caponsacchi’s being more liberating and self- focused.
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Sample Respone #3

In Book 6 we see, for the first time, a detailed account of what transpired between Caponsacchi and Pompilia. There is a definite attraction between the two characters, but the nature of the relationship and of their dedication to one another is less obvious. However, after careful analysis of the text and all the evidence strewn throughout Caponsacchi’s account, it can be concluded that the nature of his attraction to Pompilia is one of almost pious reverence and veneration, but not of romantic love. Consequently, his actions are validated because they were motivated out of good intentions; that of helping the woman he holds in such high regard.

The nature of Caponsacchi’s devotion to Pompilia is interesting in that he is very much enthralled by her, and while it may seem at first that this devotion has a romantic element, upon closer examination of the account it is revealed that his devotion has more of a religious context rather than a romantic one. Caponsacchi is attracted to Pompilia because he sees her as a religious figure, and he makes numerous refrences to her as such. Nearly all of his descriptions pertaining to her are paired with a religious image of some sort. For example he describes her as “The splendour of heaven”(6.118) and “She can be loved by none of you, more or less priestly. Saints, to do us good, must be in heaven” (6.174-176). He also proclaims that she had “a wonderful white soul” (6.200) and makes refrence to her as “God’s saints,- the perfect soul Pompilia”(6.1163). He makes reference to his religious view of her when he states that “Duty to God is duty to her” (6.1030) and “For Pompilia- build churches, go pray!” (6.1881-1882). In all of these qoutations it becomes clear that Caponsacchi’s devotion to Pompilia arises out of his viewing her in a religious context. She becomes the object of his devotion, but because he is a priest, his devotion for her manifests itself in a religious context rather than a romantic one. He even validates this fact at the end saying “…as if I loved….We had no thought of such infatuation, she and I”(6.1972-1973) and then goes on to list numerous points which validate this fact.
Caponsacchi’s account of the events and his motivation for his actions can be validated because of his pious admiration for Pompilia. While his actions may have been evoked by his devotion to her, this does not discredit his tale. He had no self-interests in helping Pompilia escape to Rome other than the simple pleasure of being of service to her.
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Sample Response #4

In Book 6, Caponsacchi finally validates his claim that he did not love Pompilia romantically, nor was their love of an adulterous nature. He establishes the fact that they never had an intimate relationship and gives the true reason behind their flight. Caponsacchi says Pompilia needed to flee from a harmful situation, while he needed to respond to God’s calling without concern for appearances.
        
Caponsacchi successfully proves that Pompilia’s child is not his, thus absolving her of criticism and removing the only legitimate motive for Guido’s actions. He claims that when they had nearly reached Rome, Pompilia cried out “Gaetano!” and fainted, saying: “I have more life to save than mine” (1406). Thus, she was already pregnant when she and the priest set out on their journey. Furthermore, Caponasacchi fervently claims that he never even touched her, except to carry her after her fainting spell. However, if he did not love Pompilia romantically, why he would come to her aid in the face of harsh punishment?

Caponsacchi thought of Pompilia as a genuinely pure soul in a world of false pretenses. She represented an opportunity to do the will of God. Although he was a priest and supposedly did God’s bidding on a regular basis, Caponsacchi felt that his heart for ministry was being stifled by Catholicism: “My church: it seemed to say for the first time/’But am not I the Bride, the mystic love O’ the Lamb, who took they plighted troth, my priest, /To fold thy warm heart on my heart of stone/ And freeze thee nor unfasten any more?’” (976-980). Browning voices Victorian, anti-Catholic sentiments, yet he also gives Caponsacchi the motivation to rescue Pompilia because she gave him a mission to accomplish outside the strict confines of the Church. Therefore, Caponsacchi believes that the journey to Rome was the will of God, and seeks to prove that it was not merely a lovers’ attempt to escape: “You know this is not love, Sirs, - it is faith,/The feeling that there’s God, he reigns and rules/Out of this low world: that is all; no harm!” (1193-95). By rescuing Pompilia, he went against the laws of man and the stagnant Church to follow the will of God. As he sees a judge shed a tear, he says: “You see the truth --/I am glad I helped you: she helped me just so” (1885-86). Pompilia helped him step beyond the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church and accomplish good in God’s name, “Leaving the shows of things to the Lord of Show” (1820). Thus, the priest states his actual motive for helping her escape.

Caponsacchi proves that he and Pompilia’s relationship was in no way adulterous but simply mutually beneficial. Although it would seem that he only assisted in her escape, she also helped him by showing him that he did was not accountable to others, including the Catholic Church, as long as he was carrying out God’s will.
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Paul Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu