Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh:

“Art is much, but love is more.”

Natalie Phillips

Department of English

Faculty Advisor: Beverly Taylor

Graduate Mentor: Devon Fisher

Elizabeth Barrett BrowningA Time Line

• Born: March 6, 1806

• 1820: Battle of Marathon privately published

• 1833: Prometheus Bound published

• 1836: Barrett Browning meets Mary Russell Mitford

• 1840: Death of “Bro”

• 1844: Poems published

• 1845: First letter and visit from Robert Browning

• 1846: Marriage

• 1849: Birth of Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning

• 1850: Sonnets from the Portuguese published

• 1851: Casa Guidi Windows published

• 1856: Aurora Leigh published

• Died: June 29, 1861

Aurora LeighStory Line

• In her dedication to John Kenyon, Barrett

Browning wrote that Aurora Leigh expressed

her “Highest Convictions on Life and Art.”

• Aurora Leigh born in Italy to Italian mother

and English father

• At 13, Aurora becomes an orphan upon the

death of her father and is moved to England

to live with her father’s sister

• On her 20th birthday, cousin Romney Leigh

proposes and Aurora rejects him

• Six weeks later her aunt dies

• Aurora leaves to be a poet in London

Aurora LeighStory Line

• Aurora suffers from loneliness

• Aurora receives a visit from Lady Waldemar, an

aristocratic woman who loves Romney

• Lady Waldemar reveals that Romney plans to

marry a street wretch: Marian

• Aurora goes to visit Marian and gives the marriage

her blessing

• Marian fails to appear at the very public wedding

• Aurora’s loneliness worsens

• Romney becomes engaged to Lady Waldemar

• Aurora departs for Italy via France

• Aurora discovers Marian living in Paris

• Marian has a son and reveals that Lady Waldemar

had persuaded her to leave England with a servant

bound for Australia

• The servant tricked Marian into a brothel where

she was raped and impregnated

• Aurora extends an offer of sisterhood and the two

women depart together for Italy

• Aurora writes to inform Romney

• In Italy, Aurora realizes her love for Romney and

she becomes depressed

• Romney appears, confesses his love for Aurora,

and proposes to Marian

• Marian rejects him and he proposes to Aurora

• Aurora accepts him and they plan to marry

My Interpretation

A Semi-Autobiographical Romance

Critical ApproachSisterhood

• Some critics view Aurora Leigh as a story of

sisterhood between Aurora and Marian

• Proponents: Angela Leighton, Nina Auerbach

• Aurora suffers from the void created by her

father’s death and also from Romney’s belief

that marriage is an institution based on social

utility rather than on love

• Marian suffers abuse in childhood at the

hands of her parents and in adulthood is raped

and tricked into a brothel

• Aurora and Marian depart for Italy in an

attempt to exchange romance with a man for

friendship with another woman

• The man had baffled, chafed me, till I flung

For refuge to the woman (IV, 350).

The friendship between Aurora and Marian is remarkably

similar to Barrett Browning’s friendship with fellow female

writer Mary Russell Mitford...

Aurora and Marian

• Aurora’s consciousness is dominated by the

memory of her father

• Aurora turns to Marian when both Romney

and her father fail or are unable to provide

comfort

• Aurora and Marian share great intimacy

during Romney’s absence but upon his arrival

in Italy the sisterhood dissolves and Aurora

and Romney make plans to marry

• The major flaw in the friendship is Aurora’s

need for male love

Barrett Browning and Mitford

• Barrett Browning idolized her father,

dedicated much of her early poetry to him

and continued living at home into her 40s

• The period of intense intimacy between

Barrett Browning and Mitford coincided with

the deaths of their traditional male confidants

• The bonds between the two women weaken

quickly as soon as Robert Browning begins

courting Barrett Browning

• The major flaw in the friendship is Barrett

Browning’s need for male love

Mary Russell MitfordA Time Line

• Born: December 16, 1787

• 1810: Miscellaneous Poems published

• 1824: beginning of Our Village series of sketches

• 1828: Rienzi published

• 1833: Julian published

• 1836: Meet Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• 1837: began editing Finden’s Tableaux

• 1842: death of father

• 1852: Recollections of a Literary Life published

• 1854: Atherton published

• Died: January 10, 1855

Critical ApproachSocial Criticism

• Most critics depict Aurora Leigh as primarily a

social criticism

• They Cite:

• Barrett Browning’s need to give voice to her

female characters as evidenced by:

• Marian’s refusal to be ashamed of her rape or her

illegitimate child

• Marian’s criticism of society’s apathy to the poor

• Aurora’s willingness to befriend Marian and to

write about her plight

• Some believe that Barrett Browning’s social

criticism was successful (Angela Leighton, Cora

Kaplan)

• Others believe that because of her upper-middle

class background, Barrett Browning

unintentionally depicted the poor as animalistic

masses (Deirdre David)

Critical AssessmentThe Sisterhood

The sisterhood between Aurora and Marian functions as a refuge, not only for Marian but for

Aurora as well, and is drawn from Barrett Browning’s unique relationship with Mary Russell

Mitford. The sisterhood is an important aspect of the novel-in-verse. However, it is not the most

central relationship in the work. Additionally, the sisterhood is highly problematic for three

primary reasons.

1) First, Aurora is clearly the stronger partner in the relationship. Marian functions in a variety of

inferior roles; sometimes as charity case, sometimes as daughter, and sometimes as muse.

2) Second, the sisterhood is not satisfying to Aurora. She is unproductive and lonely in Italy and

spends her days pining for Romney.

3) Third, the dissolution of the sisterhood immediately upon Romney’s reentrance emphasizes the

superior importance of the romance.

Critical Assessment

Social Criticism

Aurora Leigh should not be read primarily as a social criticism. Barrett

Browning’s ability to depict the actual situation of the poor masses was

severely hampered by her lack of exposure and upper-middle class

background. However, her willingness to attempt to treat the situation openly

and frankly is praiseworthy. Barrett Browning’s assertion that Marian, a fallen

woman, deserves friendship and respect is Aurora Leigh’s most revolutionary

feature.

My Thesis

Aurora Leigh is MOST successful when it is

read as a poem about love. Aurora herself

says “Art is much but love is more” (IX

660).The sisterhood is about love between

friends. Yet, for Aurora the love of Art and

the love of sisters pales in comparison to the

love of Romney. At it’s most fundamental

level, Aurora Leigh is not a social criticism

or a story of sisterhood; rather it is the story

of a lonely poetess who discovers her own

highest convictions on art and life through

the acknowledgement of love.