Elizabeth Barrett Browning
1806 - 1861
Elizabeth Barrett was born near Durham to a wealthy merchant family that had
made its fortunes in slave trade. For a girl of her time she was unusually
educated, learning Greek and Latin. She was a good reader and an early writer. Reading and writing were
also the only diversions of her life. Her tyrannical father kept her confined
at Hope End, the family's castle. The official excuse for Elizabeth seclusion was her infirmity (she
was a semi-invalid).
By the age of thirty-nine Elizabeth was a well-known poetess. As such
she sometimes received visits from man of letters and younger writers. One of
these was Robert Browning, who soon declared his love for her. Their relation
was mainly epistolary for a year and a half, after
which they secretly married and eloped to Italy.
The following year she published Sonnets from the Portuguese, inspired by her love for Browning.
Life in Italy
brought to Elizabeth
both restored health and renewed poetical inspiration. She settled in Florence with her husband
at Casa Guidi, recalled in Casa Guidi
Windows, 1851, the most famous of her poems inspired by Italian Risorgimento.
She died in 1861 and was buried in the English cemetery.
● Moral and social concern.
Her literary interests were always characterized by
ethical and social concerns, as the exploitation of children in coalmines and
factories (The Cry of the Children).
Her best work in this field is now considered Aurora Leigh, concerning wider questions as women's education and
their role in society.
Texts:
● If Thou Must Love Me, Let It Be for Naught.
