Essay
“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height”. This quote comes from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways. She was born Elizabeth Barrett and married Robert Browning in 1846. Previously to her marriage, she suffered the loss of her mother and brother as well as from spinal injury, chronic coughs, and severely damaged health. Elizabeth’s poetry was all affected extremely by the ordeals she suffered and yet she came to be one of the best poets of her time, influencing not only her husband’s poetry but also that of Emily Dickenson who had her painting within her house. She was influenced greatly by Shakespearean sonnets and Greek patristic writing which is early Greek Christian literature.
A theme that is commonly in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems is love. It is the type of love one has for their spouse, most commonly, and in many of her poems it is about accepting and proving her love. The reason that love is a common theme is due to the fact that Elizabeth lived during the Victorian age, an era in which love poems were vary common. A common motif in her poems is women equality. In the poems that do have love as the theme, they are very expressive, with strong and powerful words. Frequent characters in her poems are herself, children, specifically her child, and her husband Robert Browning.
Elizabeth Barrett, born in 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England, was the oldest of twelve siblings and the “first in her family born in England in over two hundred years.” She grew up having everything that a child could possibly want and by the age of ten she was reading many Shakespearean plays and a few passages from Paradise Lost. At age twelve, she had written four books of rhyming couplets which was considered her first “epic” poem. Two years later, she developed a lung ailment which she suffered from for the rest of her life and was treated with morphine. A year later, she suffered a spinal injury as she saddled a pony. During this time in her life, many of her poems were dark, saddening, and filled with her own grief. Despite her ailments, her education continued to thrive and Elizabeth taught herself Hebrew so she would be able to read the Old Testament. She was passionate about her Christian faith and it translated into the amount of activity she did in the Bible and Missionary Societies of her church. In 1826, when Elizabeth was 20 years of age, she published her first volume. It was titled An Essay on Mind, with Other Poems and she claimed no authorship of the novel. Her mother died two years later. Shortly after publication, she became acquaintances with a completely blind, middle- aged scholar named Hugh Stuart Boyd. He had published various volumes of translations from the Greek patristic writings. Her friendship with Hugh sparked her interest for classical Greek literature including: Homer, Pindar, passages from Plato and Aristotle. The Greek literature influenced her writing style greatly- she published her translation of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, the Greek dramatist, in 1833 after the move her father made due to the loss of his rural estate in London. During this time in her life, Elizabeth and her siblings were sent to Jamaica to help with the family’s estates. She wrote The Seraphim and Other Poems in 1838 which expressed “Christian sentiments in the form of classical Greek tragedy”. Due to her declining health, she was forced to spend a year at the sea of Torquay with “Bro” her brother Edward who died July 11, 1840 and “was the greatest sorrow of her life.” She carried this burden for the rest of her life, unable to speak of it to her family or anyone else. She remained in her room for the following five years and continued to write. She read various poems from Browning, Tennyson, Carlyle, Harriet, and Wordsworth who became her inspiration. She was the only one in her family who was independently wealthy, which, during that time, was most uncommon. And due to her declining health, she did not do domestic work that was supposed to fall to her because of her mother’s untimely death. Her writing continued to thrive and in 1844 she published a collection entitled Pomes. The collection gained the attention of Robert Browning, a poet whom Elizabeth had previously praised in a poem in one of her volumes titled “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.” In response to the poem, Robert sent a letter of gratitude in 1845 to Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Robert began to send letters back and forth, much to the displeasure of Elizabeth’s father. She fell in love with Robert and many of her poems reflect this time, her most notable being “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Robert and Elizabeth were married on September 12 of 1846 and the two quickly left England and went to Italy. Three years later, they had their first and only son, Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning, nicknamed "Pen," was born. Elizabeth continued writing and in 1850 updated her previous volume Poems at the encouragement of her husband. Due to the Brownings not wanting the poems to seem as if they had any biographical significance, they selected the title “Sonnets from the Portuguese” to make it seem as if the poems were translations. Later in her life, Elizabeth wrote a narrative poem as a way to explain and interpret her feelings on the society of that time.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived during the Victorian era which was from 1807 to 1901, during the time Queen Victoria was on the throne. During this time “Victorian gender ideology justified itself claiming that women were destined to be mothers and wives and no more”. When Elizabeth’s mother died, her father became more and more determined for his children to be dependent on him. However, Elizabeth’s career continued to flourish phenomenally. During the Victorian era, women were considered property of their father, brother or husband, whichever male happened to provide for the family. Elizabeth did not let this status shape her and she became her own women, fighting for female equality in Britain through her poetry. Her best work on the subject of female equality is Aurora Leigh, a narrative poem about the heroine Aurora Leigh who is a famous poet and makes great money. This poem, despite being extremely controversial, was a literature piece that showcased Elizabeth’s intelligence and sympathy for humanity. Poetry with a theme on love was a very common type of poetry during the Victorian age and this is the reason that Elizabeth Barrett Browning became such a famous poet, her poetry on love held meaning because she was has personal experience about all of her love poetry.
In conclusion, Elizabeth was a very strong female who lived in a time where women were viewed as nothing better than housewives. Despite this generalization by society, Elizabeth continued to write controversial pieces. She was also influenced by the Victorian era’s common literature which was very love based.
Works Cited
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/elizabeth-barrett-browning>.
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/152>.
"How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...," ByElizabeth Barrett Browning." "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...,"
ByElizabeth Barrett Browning. Amherst.edu, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.
<http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilove
theeletmecounttheways.html>.
"THE WOMAN QUESTION AND THE VICTORIAN LITERATURE ON GENDER." Galileo. Ebscohost.com, 1 June 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
<http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a2a12386-d165-4f3c-b6d7-
b49ad4a23c59%40sessionmgr12&vid=6&hid=8>.
A theme that is commonly in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems is love. It is the type of love one has for their spouse, most commonly, and in many of her poems it is about accepting and proving her love. The reason that love is a common theme is due to the fact that Elizabeth lived during the Victorian age, an era in which love poems were vary common. A common motif in her poems is women equality. In the poems that do have love as the theme, they are very expressive, with strong and powerful words. Frequent characters in her poems are herself, children, specifically her child, and her husband Robert Browning.
Elizabeth Barrett, born in 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England, was the oldest of twelve siblings and the “first in her family born in England in over two hundred years.” She grew up having everything that a child could possibly want and by the age of ten she was reading many Shakespearean plays and a few passages from Paradise Lost. At age twelve, she had written four books of rhyming couplets which was considered her first “epic” poem. Two years later, she developed a lung ailment which she suffered from for the rest of her life and was treated with morphine. A year later, she suffered a spinal injury as she saddled a pony. During this time in her life, many of her poems were dark, saddening, and filled with her own grief. Despite her ailments, her education continued to thrive and Elizabeth taught herself Hebrew so she would be able to read the Old Testament. She was passionate about her Christian faith and it translated into the amount of activity she did in the Bible and Missionary Societies of her church. In 1826, when Elizabeth was 20 years of age, she published her first volume. It was titled An Essay on Mind, with Other Poems and she claimed no authorship of the novel. Her mother died two years later. Shortly after publication, she became acquaintances with a completely blind, middle- aged scholar named Hugh Stuart Boyd. He had published various volumes of translations from the Greek patristic writings. Her friendship with Hugh sparked her interest for classical Greek literature including: Homer, Pindar, passages from Plato and Aristotle. The Greek literature influenced her writing style greatly- she published her translation of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, the Greek dramatist, in 1833 after the move her father made due to the loss of his rural estate in London. During this time in her life, Elizabeth and her siblings were sent to Jamaica to help with the family’s estates. She wrote The Seraphim and Other Poems in 1838 which expressed “Christian sentiments in the form of classical Greek tragedy”. Due to her declining health, she was forced to spend a year at the sea of Torquay with “Bro” her brother Edward who died July 11, 1840 and “was the greatest sorrow of her life.” She carried this burden for the rest of her life, unable to speak of it to her family or anyone else. She remained in her room for the following five years and continued to write. She read various poems from Browning, Tennyson, Carlyle, Harriet, and Wordsworth who became her inspiration. She was the only one in her family who was independently wealthy, which, during that time, was most uncommon. And due to her declining health, she did not do domestic work that was supposed to fall to her because of her mother’s untimely death. Her writing continued to thrive and in 1844 she published a collection entitled Pomes. The collection gained the attention of Robert Browning, a poet whom Elizabeth had previously praised in a poem in one of her volumes titled “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.” In response to the poem, Robert sent a letter of gratitude in 1845 to Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Robert began to send letters back and forth, much to the displeasure of Elizabeth’s father. She fell in love with Robert and many of her poems reflect this time, her most notable being “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Robert and Elizabeth were married on September 12 of 1846 and the two quickly left England and went to Italy. Three years later, they had their first and only son, Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning, nicknamed "Pen," was born. Elizabeth continued writing and in 1850 updated her previous volume Poems at the encouragement of her husband. Due to the Brownings not wanting the poems to seem as if they had any biographical significance, they selected the title “Sonnets from the Portuguese” to make it seem as if the poems were translations. Later in her life, Elizabeth wrote a narrative poem as a way to explain and interpret her feelings on the society of that time.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived during the Victorian era which was from 1807 to 1901, during the time Queen Victoria was on the throne. During this time “Victorian gender ideology justified itself claiming that women were destined to be mothers and wives and no more”. When Elizabeth’s mother died, her father became more and more determined for his children to be dependent on him. However, Elizabeth’s career continued to flourish phenomenally. During the Victorian era, women were considered property of their father, brother or husband, whichever male happened to provide for the family. Elizabeth did not let this status shape her and she became her own women, fighting for female equality in Britain through her poetry. Her best work on the subject of female equality is Aurora Leigh, a narrative poem about the heroine Aurora Leigh who is a famous poet and makes great money. This poem, despite being extremely controversial, was a literature piece that showcased Elizabeth’s intelligence and sympathy for humanity. Poetry with a theme on love was a very common type of poetry during the Victorian age and this is the reason that Elizabeth Barrett Browning became such a famous poet, her poetry on love held meaning because she was has personal experience about all of her love poetry.
In conclusion, Elizabeth was a very strong female who lived in a time where women were viewed as nothing better than housewives. Despite this generalization by society, Elizabeth continued to write controversial pieces. She was also influenced by the Victorian era’s common literature which was very love based.
Works Cited
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/elizabeth-barrett-browning>.
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/152>.
"How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...," ByElizabeth Barrett Browning." "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...,"
ByElizabeth Barrett Browning. Amherst.edu, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.
<http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/elizabethbarrettbrowning/poems/sonnetsfromtheportuguese/howdoilove
theeletmecounttheways.html>.
"THE WOMAN QUESTION AND THE VICTORIAN LITERATURE ON GENDER." Galileo. Ebscohost.com, 1 June 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
<http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a2a12386-d165-4f3c-b6d7-
b49ad4a23c59%40sessionmgr12&vid=6&hid=8>.