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As aestheticism was not exclusively a literary phenomenon and attracted artists from different branches, it is difficult to say which individuals actually made up the aestheticist movement in literature. Therefore, aestheticism should be regarded as a mode of writing rather than a clearly defined movement with its representatives often sharing "no more than a general affinity in taste and ideas" (R.V. Johnson). This work focuses on anticipations of aestheticism in Robert Browning´s poetry and aims at analysing the elements in his poetical works that point ahead to aestheticism and make him a forerunner for main representatives of this literary current such as Walter Pater, John Ruskin or Oscar Wilde. The work examines Robert Browning´s poetry through the critical framework of aestheticism and also discusses how the use of the dramatic monologue reveals aestheticist tastes and desires of the characters, the role art plays in the lives of the artists and how art and beauty are constructed through speech. Finally, this work should provide different grounds on which Robert Browning can be considered a forerunner of aestheticist writers and should reveal those elements in his work that point ahead to the aestheticist mode of writing.

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Julia Grafenberger, M.A., B.A.:1996-2000: Elementary School (Kremsmünster).2000-2008: Grammar School (Kremsmünster).2008-2011: BA English and American Studies (Salzburg).2011-2013: MA English Studies and the Creative Industries (Salzburg). Since 2013: PhD Project at the University of Salzburg.

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