Elizabeth Barrett Browning Biography

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's marriage to Robert Browning

In 1845, Elizabeth Barrett and Browning met and fell in love. She was six years older than him and a much bigger name in literary circles at the time. Browning wrote to thank Barrett for speaking highly of him in her Poems collection, saying,

They met for the first time in the summer of 1845 and courted in secret for 20 months, during which they exchanged 575 letters. Fearing her father's wrath, the Brownings secretly married in September 1846 and moved to Italy a week later. Her father disowned her when he found out about the marriage, and she never saw him again.

Fig. 2 - Elizabeth Barrett married fellow poet Robert Browning in 1846.

The Brownings resided in Florence, Italy for most of their marriage, but they moved a lot due to financial challenges. Barrett Browning's health improved drastically in Italy.

Each of the Brownings wrote love poems for the other: one of Barrett Browning's most famous works, Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), was a collection of love poems that she wrote for her husband during the first few years of their marriage. For his part, Browning broke his vow of objectivity and wrote 'One Word More' (1855) about his love for his wife.

Starting in 1959, Barrett Browning's lifelong condition worsened once more, and she died in her husband's arms in 1861. After her death, her husband returned to England and prepared her Last Poems (1862) collection for publication.

Children

In 1849, at the age of 43, Elizabeth gave birth to her only son Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning. Robert later grew up to become a successful painter and sculptor.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: poems

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was famous, even during her own lifetime, for her poetry. Most of her reputation rests upon the success of her sonnets and love poems. However, Barrett Browning also used her writing for social activism: she often spoke out against slavery and child labour, wrote extensively about Italian politics, and was not afraid to discuss the male domination of women. Her political opinions decreased her popularity, but her opinion was heard and valued.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: sonnets

Published in 1850, Sonnets from the Portuguese is a collection of 44 love sonnets that Barrett Browning wrote between 1845-1846 as her relationship with Browning began and developed. The tone of the sonnets shifts as her relationship with her future husband grows, starting out hesitant and guarded yet becoming increasingly more passionate and hopeful.

Barrett Browning was hesitant to publish the poems because of how personal they were. she eventually titled the collection Sonnets from the Portuguese - an effort to maintain some privacy by pretending the sonnets were simply translations from a foreign poet. 'Sonnet 43' is the most well-known poem of the collection, beginning 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.'

Fig. 3 - Barrett Browning became famous for her love sonnets.

Aurora Leigh

Aurora Leigh (1857) is Barrett Browning's longest work, an epic poem/novel spanning more than 11,000 lines. Its nine books are written in blank verse, and it is the first feature-length poem in English to place a female artist as the heroine and centre of the plot. The heroine, Aurora Leigh, offers a first-person narrative of her youth, self-education, and pursuit of a literary career. The heroine is a highly independent woman who refuses her cousin's marriage proposal and instead focuses on building her career.

Although Aurora Leigh eventually realizes she is in love with her cousin, the main focus of the poem is on her professional life and her friendship with another woman. The poem features themes such as oppressive social roles, gender-based violence (especially in relation to prostitution), and 'the woman question.'

The woman question, translated from the French term 'querelle des femmes,' refers to the debate around whether women needed greater economic, political, and educational freedom, or should continue their roles as mothers and housewives.

In Aurora Leigh, the heroine chooses her career over a marriage. Barrett Browning sides with female liberation from the constricting social values which placed women's needs below those of their husbands and children.

Themes in Barrett Browning's works

The main themes in Barrett Browning's works are gender roles, industrialisation, and love.

Problems faced by women

As showcased in Aurora Leigh, Barrett Browning was deeply concerned with women's place in society. Growing up, she valued Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), the influence of which shines through in much of Barrett Browning's own writing.

Much of her poetry illustrates the issues that women faced in Victorian society, from unequal opportunities in jobs to their own marriages. She was especially concerned with marital power dynamics, showcased in Aurora Leigh and even to some extent in her sonnets, where she expresses hesitancy about getting married.

This theme of reluctance around marriage was influenced by Barrett Browning's time period, in which women had very few rights of their own and were basically controlled by their husbands and fathers. Barrett Browning herself was an outlier, becoming a huge name in literature when most women were never given the chance to write anything for the public sphere.

Evils of industrialisation

As stated above, Barrett Browning was ardently opposed to slavery and child labour. During her time period, cities were becoming increasingly more industrialized, tending towards horrible working conditions that were dangerous and filthy.

Fig. 4 - Barrett Browning spoke to the issues of industrialization in her poems.

Barrett Browning spoke out against these conditions in her 1843 poem 'The Cry of the Children,' which depicts children being forced to work in horrible conditions and dying young. She condemned progress and industrialization at the expense of children's safety. Barrett Browning uses religious imagery to juxtapose the morality of Christianity with the conditions and atrocities that are being allowed simply so the rich can earn more money.

Love

There are many ways Barrett Browning explored the theme of love in her poetry.

1. Romantic love

2. Spiritual love: Barrett Browning was deeply religious and her poetry often explores the idea of love as a divine force, such as in 'Aurora Leigh' where the protagonist's spiritual journey is intertwined with her search for love.

3. Maternal love: Barrett Browning's poetry often reflects her own experiences as a mother and her deep love for her children, such as in 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' which were written to her husband and express her love for him and their child.

4. Self-love

5. Unrequited love: Many of her poems deal with the pain of unrequited love, such as 'If Thou Must Love Me' where the speaker implores their lover not to love them out of obligation or pity.

6. Love as a transformative force: Barrett Browning's poetry often portrays love as a transformative force that can change and elevate individuals, as seen in 'Aurora Leigh' where the protagonist's love for her art and her relationships helps her to grow and develop as a person. This is also a form of self-love, where the speaker acknowledges their flaws and insecurities but ultimately finds solace in the love of their partner.

Browning: facts

Here are a few remarkable facts about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her life.

1. Elibath Barrett Browning was the first woman to be nominated for Poet Laureate after the death of William Wordsworth. However, she lost the post to Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1850.
2. Elizabeth Barrett Browning secretly married Robert Browning at the age of 40, in 1846. Since Elizabeth Barrette Browning's father opposed any of his children getting married, he disinherited Elizabeth soon after their wedding. The two did not speak to each other ever again.
3. Elizabeth Barrett Browning fondly named her famous sonnet collection Sonnets from Portuguese (1850) after Robert's nickname for her: 'my little Portuguese.'
4. Since Elizabeth dedicated most of her poetry to the Italian struggle for reunification, she was given a public funeral in Florence following her death.
5. Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's illness was not diagnosed by doctors at the time, many modern doctors liken her symptoms to that of chronic fatigue syndrome, polio, or hypokalemic periodic paralysis, which are all muscle-weakening genetic disorders. However, this is just mere speculation as her ailment remains unidentified today.

¹ 'First Letter Robert Browning wrote to Elizabeth Barrett Browning,' Project Gutenburg (2005).