_Pickwick_ in 1837 had established the immense vogue of Dickens, the _Heroes_ in 1840 had assured the imposing prestige of Carlyle; and the example of both made for the freest and boldest use of language.

Across the Channel the stupendous fabric of the _Comedie Humaine_ was approaching completion, and Browning was one of Balzac's keenest English readers.

Alone among the greater poets of the time Browning was in genius and temperament a true kinsman to these great romantic realists; his poetry, as it emerged in the rich dramatic harvest of the 'Forties, is the nearest counterpart and analogue of their prose.
I.
Browning's first drama, as is well known, was the result of a direct application from Macready.

Introduced in November 1835 by his "literary father" Fox, Browning immediately interested the actor.

A reading of _Paracelsus_ convinced him that Browning could write, if not a good play, yet one with an effective tragic _role_ for himself.