Exploring Criminology in Literary Texts: Robert Browning- an Example

Abstract

The association between, literature, and criminology is undeniable and, yet for too long those studying crime and literature respectively, have failed to see the connection between the two, or dismissed it as being irrelevant. This study explores literary pieces which deal exclusively with murder in order to prove that the two disciplines: literature and criminology are intimately connected and essentially inseparable. Some literary pieces which deal with identifying the thought processes of murderers have been so insightful that crime experts applied them to certain high-profile cases. That so much violent crime is depicted in literature should stimulate further research into the links between criminology and literature. Robert Browning's "The Laboratory" (1844) is selected as a case study in order to demonstrate how criminological theories can successfully be applied to literary pieces. Browning's protagonist will prove to be a fictional manifestation of a female sadistic criminal as defined by psychiatrist/criminologist Paul De River in his criminology/sexology textbook for law enforcement personnel The Sexual Criminal (1949).