Four Sonnets from the Portuguese

Definitions of Self and Other in and Through Literary Communication

“…At the same time, as Browning's (1998) speaker says to the addressee "See me as a woman who loves you perfectly", the author says to the reader, "See me as a person who has known perfect love". The corresponding definitions of other simultaneously transmitted are "I see you as the man who will appreciate and requite my perfect love" on the level of speaker/addressee communication and "I see you as a person who knows perfect love when you see it" on the level of author/reader communication.…”

“…The addressee's perceived need for a confirmation of the relationship has been answered with an "embarras de richesses". This metaphoric enlargement of love was hardly less lavish than that of the flea in Donne's (1996) poem, and Browning's (1998) speaker topped her hyperboles with a further imaginative extension of her love into the afterlife. There is clearly no room for any further development in this direction, nor for symmetrical escalation of the "I love you even more than you love me" type.…”

“…One classic case in point will serve for a token analysis that shows the communicational complexities of the genre: the penultimate poem in the sequence of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's (1998) "Sonnets from the Portuguese". It contains a straightforward declaration of affection that begins with the line "How do I love thee?…”

“…Instead of being pure monologues, love lyrics are particularly apt to reveal a dialogic character, if looked at as communications between a lover and a beloved. Browning's (1998) speaker, for instance, is answering a question that was either consciously raised or unconsciously prompted by the addressee. In either case, the speaker was made to feel that a confirmation of the relationship was called for.…”

“…In the case of Browning's (1998) speaker and addressee, rigidity would include repetition, since the communicational sequence seems to have reached a culmination that is at the same time a dead end. The addressee's perceived need for a confirmation of the relationship has been answered with an "embarras de richesses".…”