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Elizabeth Barrett Browning - "Sonnets from the Portuguese" and "Aurora Leigh"
This newsletter will be your key to the life, work, and literary value of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (EBB), a giant of Victorian poetry. With the AS and A-Level syllabus in mind, we will discuss her biography, her distinctive poetic style, her critical response and thoroughly analyse three of her most important poems: To George Sand: A Recognition, To George Sand: A Desire and The Cry of the Children. At the end, you will be well prepared to write essays, exams and have a greater appreciation of this great poet.
Who was Elizabeth Barrett Browning? A Life of Genius and Struggle
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was a poet of the nineteenth century English-speaking world, who was critically regarded as one of the most esteemed poets. Her life was an interesting combination of privilege, physical pain, intellectualism and passionate love.
Early Life and Privilege: She was born in County Durham in a rich family whose wealth was in the Jamaican sugar plantations- something she strongly protested against. She was a precocious child, who taught herself Hebrew to read the Old Testament and read classical literature in its original languages.
A Life Marked with Disease: At 15, she contracted a lung condition and then had a spinal injury that resulted in a life of chronic disease and morphine treatment. Nevertheless, she read extensively and wrote a lot.
Intellectual Powerhouse: She was mostly self-educated as Robert Browning claimed. She had mastered Greek, Latin, Hebrew and some of the modern languages by the age of twenty and this showed that she had an intellect that would influence her ambitious poetry.
Tragedy & Confinement: In 1840, tragedy struck her when her beloved brother, the Bro, drowned when she was staying in Torquay. She was a bereaved and a guilty woman, and became an invalid, spending the rest of her life in her room in her father's house in Wimpole Street, London.
A Secret Courtship: In 1845, a letter by the younger, at that time less successful poet Robert Browning changed her life. They courted each other mostly by means of letters and secret visits and were secretly married in 1846. This led to her being disinherited by her oppressive father.
Life in Italy and Literary Fame: The couple relocated to Florence, Italy where her health was better. At this time her literary fame was riding high above that of her husband. She had a son Pen and kept on writing and created her best works.
Death & Legacy: She passed away in the arms of her husband in 1861. She was a giant, and poets such as Emily Dickinson admired her, and had a portrait of her in her bedroom, and later Virginia Woolf.
Important Fact to A-Level: EBB was a contender of Poet Laureate when Wordsworth died in 1850, which is evidence of her social status and the esteem she enjoyed as a poet of humane and liberal opinion.
EBB as Poet: Style, Strengths and Criticisms.
In order to analyse EBB properly, you have to know her unique style, her strong points as a poet, and the criticism directed at her.
Her Strengths & Style:
Intellectual Vigour: Her poems are full of allusions to the classics, philosophical inquiry, and intense interest in social matters.
Fervent Eloquence: She had no hesitation to raise her voice against social injustice such as slavery, child labour and women oppression.
Formal experimentation: She was a sonneteer, especially of the Italian (Petrarchan) form, which she employed to address the themes of love, sorrow, and artistic identity. Her Sonnets in Portuguese are still a milestone in the genre.
Unconventional Topic: Her epic novel-poem Aurora Leigh addressed the question of women and the fate of fallen women with a frankness that was both scandalous and acclaimed.
Her Limitations & Criticisms:
Even with her success, modern critics observed the following weaknesses:
Obscurity of Language: Sometimes she wanted to convey complex ideas and she did it through far-fetched imagery and lack of clarity. I completely concur with you regarding the obscurity of the line about the stars, by Mrs Browning, as one of my critics, Marie Corelli, remarked. It is far-fetched."
Diffuseness and Inappropriate Imagery: There were poems that were regarded as overly long, and poorly characterised, and the plot was inconsistent.
Vulgar Material: The vulgarity of the language in books such as Aurora Leigh rendered it to some Victorian readers virtually a closed book to her own sex.
Critical Debate A-Level: How do these criticisms represent the Victorian-era double standards of women writers? Was it her obscurity which was genius, or a defect? Was it her vulgar material that was being criticized that was a reaction to her audacity in writing about female experience in such an honest way?
The Browning Relationship: Literary Partnership.
Elizabeth and Robert Browning have a legendary relationship. It is important to know its dynamics, which had a profound impact on her work, especially Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Intellectual Equality: Robert was an accommodating critic, but EBB was very protective of her originality. She once said, "I never wrote to gratify any of you, nor even to gratify my own husband. This brings out a mutual respect based relationship rather than a subservient relationship.
A Study in Contrasts: At the time of their meeting, EBB was more established as a poet, and Robert was a struggling poet. He was active and outgoing; she was a shut-up invalid. The fact that it is a reversal of conventional gender roles is an intriguing aspect to be examined.
The Secret Courtship: Their courtship was done against the will of her father. She was terrified that his love would wane, and this she successfully overcame and made immortal in her sonnets.
A Driving Force: The relationship gave her stability, love and a relocation to a more welcoming climate which enabled her creativity to thrive even further.
Analysis of the George Sand Sonnets: In-Depth Poem.
These two sonnets, produced in praise of the French novelist Amantine Dupin (writing under the male pen name George Sand), are ideal in terms of gender, genius, and artistic identity.
Poem 1: To George Sand: A Recognition.
Context & Argument:
This sonnet praises Sand as a True genius and wonders why she seems to have disavowed her womanhood. EBB believes that although Sand changes her name to that of a man and acts with a kind of scorn typical of men, her inner femininity cannot be repressed.
Key Quotes & Analysis:
"True genius, but true woman!": The first sentence is an exclamation that creates the main paradox. It is a resounding statement that genius and womanhood do not go hand in hand.
Thy womans hair, my sister, all unshorn / Floats back dishevelled strength in agony / Disproving thy manes name: This is the volta (turn) of the sonnet. EBB appeals to a graphic image of physical pain to claim that the feminine (her hair) aspect of Sand ends up betraying her masculine character. The term sister establishes a spirit of unity.
Till God unsex thee on the heavenly shore: This is a difficult and disputed line. According to EBB, it is only in the afterlife as a disembodied spirit that gender can be overcome. She cannot, she cannot, she cannot deny her essential nature on earth, she suggests.
Poetic Technique:
Form Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet (octave and sestet), permitting a definite argument in the first eight lines and a resolution or change in the last six.
Imagery: Compares opposing images of "gauds and armlets" (symbols of female captivity) and "dishevelled strength" and "poet-fire."
Tone: Praiseful but reproving. It is an acknowledgement of genius and it is a call to Sand to find strength in her femininity.
Poem 2: To George Sand: A Desire
Context & Argument:
This companion poem turns attention to the struggle of Sand and her potential. EBB says that Sand wants to rise above the circus of critical analysis and attain a state of pure, genderless artistic sainthood.
Key Quotes & Analysis:
Thou great-brained woman and great-hearted man, / Self- called George Sand! The first line is a brilliant twist on the Victorian gender stereotypes. It glorifies Sand because she has the mind (large-brained) of a man and the heart (large-hearted) of a woman.
Whose soul, in thy tumultuous senses, moans defiance, and answers roar to roar: The simile of a Roman circus is strong. Sand is depicted as a gladiator in a Colosseum, confronting the screaming "lions" of her critics and her passions. Moans defiance implies a tired and yet tenacious bravery.
Drawing two pinions, whitish wings of swan, / Out thy strong shoulders... That to the claim of woman / And of man, most mighty by the grace of the angel": The poet envisions Sand as an angel, not of man or woman, but of an angelic, "sanctified" being. This is what a female artist wants to achieve in the end, to be evaluated not by gender but by the innocence of her genius.
Poetic Technique:
Form: Once more, a Petrarchan sonnet, to offer a radical solution.
Extended Metaphor: The circus and the lions form a continuous allegory of the cruel life of a female writer in the world.
Imagery of religion: The terms such as miraculous, the grace of an angel and sanctified uplift the message of the poem, indicating that artistic transcendence is a spiritual accomplishment.
Critical Poem Analysis The Cry of the Children.
This poem is a staple of EBB political and social poetry, and it is critical to her involvement in the modern world.
Context & Argument:
The Cry of the Children is a vehement protest against the exploitation of child labour in the mines and factories, written in 1842 by the author after reading a parliamentary report on the subject. It speaks to the voiceless, and describes their physical and spiritual torment.
Key Quotes & Analysis:
Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers: The poem begins with a direct address, which gives the feeling of urgency and collective responsibility. The word my brothers is repeated and this makes the reader a part of the injustice.
Oh, say the children, we are tired, / And we cannot run or leap - / Had we cared for any meadows, it were but to fall down there and sleep. These lines are devastating in the way that industrial labour has deprived children of their childhood. The natural world (meadows) is no longer a game but just a place to rest in death.
The young lambs bleat in the meadows, / The young birds chirp in the nest, / The young fawns play with the shadows, / The young flowers blow to the west-- / But the young, young children, O my brothers, / They are weeping bitterly!": This is the main technique of the poem. The lively, cyclic existence of nature is contrasted with the stagnant misery of the children, which makes the feeling of unnatural violation very strong.
Technique of Poetics and Themes:
Didactic & Political: The poem is also persuasive, purposefully so, and is meant to provoke outrage and bring about reform. It is an illustration of the application of poetry as a social change agent.
Contrast & Juxtaposition: The main strength of the poem is the contrast between the idyllic pastoral (Heaven) and the industrial hell of the factories and mines.
Persona & Empathy: EBB, a woman of the upper middle class who is trapped in her room, manages to play the role of the suffering child. This demonstrates her unbelievable imaginative empathy and the desire to speak on behalf of those who could not.
Religious Imagery: The children are described as having tender roots whose lives are destroyed spiritually. The poem challenges a society that tolerates such form of injustice in the name of profit.
Key Themes for A-Level Study
In planning essays and exams, remember how these themes interlace within the work of EBB:
Gender and the Woman Artist: The George Sand sonnets is a direct examination of the struggles that women had to endure in a male dominated literary environment. Aurora Leigh develops this into a novel-poem in length.
The Cry of the Children is a strong piece of her political poetry. She also wrote about slavery, Italian unification and the poor.
Love and Intimacy: Sonnets from the Portuguese are the final words of the Victorian love poetry, the vulnerability, devotion, and the power relations in a relationship.
The Poet: EBB regarded the poet as a social intellectual who had a moral duty. Her work is always a response to societal norms and a more just world.
Illness and Confinement: Her own health troubles and the domination of her father are the source of much of her poetry on the theme of limitation, liberation, and the strength of the mind.
Critical Reception Over Time: Quick Overview.
It is important to learn how the critics have perceived EBB in order to analyze the context of A-Level.
In her lifetime: She was a celebrity, and many thought she was the greatest woman poet in English history. The Edinburgh Review said she had no peeress in any country.
Her Death: Her reputation was long. Her career was acclaimed by critics and her Last Poems were published by Robert Browning.
Early 20th Century: Her fame declined. In 1930, Virginia Woolf decried the loss of memory of Aurora Leigh, and encouraged readers to reread it, noting its pace and vigor, its boldness and utter self-confidence.
Late 20th Century to Present: Feminist criticism has played a key role in restoring her reputation. Ellen Moers referred to Aurora Leigh as the great epic poem of the age... the epic poem of the literary woman herself. Her fame nowadays is safe, researched due to her formal mastery, her political activity, and her proto-feminist observations.
Revision Checklist: Points to Remember.
EBB was a significant Victorian poet, a Poet Laureate candidate and an important influence on subsequent authors.
Her poetry is characterized by intellectual rigor, political ardor and formal experiment, particularly the sonnet.
She was criticized as obscure, diffuse, and vulgar in subject matter--criticisms that tended to be gender-specific.
Her association with Robert Browning was an important, emancipating influence in her life.
The George Sand sonnets discuss the issues of gender and art.
The Cry of the Children is a didactic and political poem where the author employs contrast and strong imagery to denounce child labour.
The major themes are: the woman artist, social justice, love, the role of the poet and the struggle of freedom.
It is our hope that this newsletter will give you a clear and detailed guide to your studies of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Created by her own hardships and mental flame, her voice is as strong and as topical now as it was in the nineteenth century. Good luck with your studies
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