Comparing Elizabeth Barrett Browning And Petrarchan Sonnet

In 1833, Barrett published her first volume of poetry, Promethus Bound: Translated from the Greek of Aeschylus, and Miscellaneous Poems anonymously, which went nearly unnoticed by the public (EXPLORING Poetry) (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Discouraged, Elizabeth received influence from Hugh Stuart Boyd, a blind, middle-aged scholar. He directed Barrett to prolong her studies in classical Greek literature. As a result of Boyd’s guidance, she published her first major work in 1838, The Seraphim and Other Poems. It was given “long and mainly favorable reviews in the leading journals” (Hayter). It received critical praise and subsequently acknowledged her as one of

In Sonnet 13 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the beloved wants the speaker to transcribe the feelings that she has for him in a sonnet. However, even though she knows that her feelings are real, she is not yet comfortable with declaring her love in such a way. In her sonnet, Browning compares what she is feeling to a lit torch in rough winds: “And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, / Between our faces, to cast light on each?— / I drop it at thy feet” (3-5). In this metaphor, the torch acts to enlighten what is between both Browning and her beloved. Except, with external forces (such as the rough winds) battling against her increasing emotions, she feels as though she must focus on protecting her feelings. By the end of this quote, Browning drops the torch, thus representing the fact that she can’t go through with describing what she feels for her beloved. Ultimately, she tells her love, “My hand to hold my spirit so far off / From myself—me—that I should bring thee proof / In words, of love hid in me out of reach” (6-8). Here, she states that she can’t go through with risking herself. For now, he will have to settle with silence as his only answer. Simply by evaluating Browning’s response, we can see how much she cares for her beloved. First off, she worries about the possibility of risking or changing the strong emotions she has. Additionally, she believes that, given her profoundly heartfelt emotions, she will not be able to accurately depict their significance.

     Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a plain woman of the Victorian Era that was most remarkably gifted. She “was destined to become known to the world”(Preston xi). Elizabeth Barrett Browning became known for her poetry, because she showed marriages were her women character were often left emotionally unstable.

Although women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries faced oppression and unequal treatment, some people strove to change common perspectives on the feminine sex. John Stuart Mill, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf were able to reach out to the world, through their literature, and help change the views that society held towards women and their roles within its structure. During the Victorian era, women were bound to domestic roles and were very seldom allowed to seek other positions. Most men and many women felt that if women were allowed to pursue interests, outside traditional areas of placement that they would be unable to be an attentive

Women were expected to stay in their place and be good housewives. Their days were meant to be occupied with cooking, cleaning, and raising the children. Their opinions were not solicited nor readily welcomed in male dominated circles of influence. Women poets were not treated or viewed any differently no matter how gifted or talented they were. They were expected to be women, wives, and mothers, first and foremost. Male poets and other literary artists were known to be carefree and devoted only to their writings. There was no time for entangling themselves with the cares of day to day domestic

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806 in Burnham, England. Elizabeth was the first of her family to be born in England after 200 years, as all of her family had lived in Jamaica where her father owned sugar plantations. Unlike many poets, Elizabeth’s poetry little reflected the life she lived. Considering the circumstances of her living, some of her poetry was quite contradicting to her lifestyle. She lived the expected life that a “daughter of a wealthy squire” would be expected to live, riding her ponies on the countryside, and having tea with other county families. Elizabeth, however, was very different from her siblings in a way in which she was so immersed in her books and drawn into learning new things, that she barely acknowledged life around her. “Books and dreams were what I lived in, and domestic life only seemed to buzz gently around, like bees about the grass”, said Barrett who was in almost every aspect, self-taught.

Despite her father’s rigidness, he was very supportive of Elizabeth’s poetry. She published The Seraphim and Other Poems in 1838, which was the first volume of mature poetry to appear under her own name . Later, her health took a bad turn and her physician convinced Elizabeth to move to a warmer climate. With her favorite brother, Edward, she left to live in Torquay. Edward drowned in a river later that year, and the grief caused Elizabeth to return to England. Elizabeth spent the next five years lamented over her brother’s death and became an invalid and a recluse. In the sixth year after Edward’s death, she published her 1844 Poems. This publication made her one of the most popular poets in the area and inspired Robert Browning, to write to her. Even though he was six years her junior, they began a famous courtship and eloped to Italy in 1846. After the marriage, Elizabeth’s father disinherited her because he did not approve, which he had done to his other children. Elizabeth had money of her own and lived a comfortable life in Italy with her husband, and later, her son, Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning. Despite Browning lengthening her life by taking her south and by his solicitous attention, she died in his arms on June 29, 1861 (Isaacs and

Virginia Woolf saw it the same way; in how women of a time before the eighteenth century had little to no history of prominent women as literary artists or in general. In her essay, Woolf states that there is very little mention in history of women, and if mentioned they usually happen to be a royal lady such as an Elizabeth or Mary. A middle-class woman could never participate in such a movement of acknowledgment, even if she had brains and character to dispense. No average Elizabethan woman ever just wrote her story, regardless of the circumstance of the era, because she would have been “snubbed, slapped, lectured, and exhorted”(Jacobus 702). It was proven that there are just few exceptions in evidence, such as women’s letters (Jacobus 695-696).

In the 19th century there were many females that had positive futures with prosperous professions.. From actresses to writers to scientists who were lost to the fact that society would never accept them or listen to what they have to say. Actresses were laughed at and told they didn't have place on a stage. Writers were silenced because their work would not be published because they were women.

this point in time, as they were believed to be inferior to men. The works of female authors were not as

Although it appears that her love towards her husband eclipses everything else, Elizabeth ends this poem with the acknowledgement that it's God's will if this perfect love continues after death. This recognition of God's supremacy, typifies the fervent, Christian beliefs which colored and shaped her ideals of love. This poem to me, symbolizes the purest form of love between husband and wife. Although you could argue that it is written from a selfish perspective, in that she only speaks of her love, her feelings-you have to bear in mind that in Victorian society, women lived their lives solely through their husbands.

Francesco Petrarch, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey were three of the greatest poets in history. They were truly visionaries in their work and with their origination of the sonnet, they crafted poems of love in all its incredible forms. With these poets, we are able to see how the sonnet evolved into the form popularized by Shakespeare and even how it still influences the modern poetry of today. Petrarch, known as the "Father of Humanism," first wrote the Italian sonnet during the 14th century. Wyatt and Surrey, who lived and were close friends during the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII in England, composed respective translations of some of Petrarch 's

With only a pen, Elizabeth Barrett Browning to promoted the liberation of forgotten people. As a result of a life filled with oppression by a misogynistic society surrounding her, Browning became a strong advocate for the emancipation of all people. Throughout her poems, Elizabeth Barrett Browning embodies the iconic 19th century emancipated female. Today, Browning continues to be one of the most beloved British poets of the Romantic Movement.

‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay are both sonnets that discuss companionship and a glimpse of each poet’s experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love, while on the contrary, in ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” Millay feeds on the chaos between the ideal of love and its harsh reality, heartbreak. Both poets seem to be love struck but there is a significant difference in the two. I will compare and contrast ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I will also inquire and analyze why this particular form of poetry established different effects.

Browning wrote a volume of Byronic verse, titled, Incondita, at the age of twelve. He later destroyed it. In 1828, he enrolled at the University of London, but soon left, wanting to study and read at his own pace. In 1833, Browning anonymously published his first major published work, “Pauline,” and in 1840 he published “Sordello,” Browning published a series of eight pamphlets titled, Bells and Pomegranates from 1841 to 1845. Although, this work did not win critical esteem or popularity, it did gain the admiration of Elizabeth Barrett, who was a respected and popular poet in her own right. In 1844 she praised Browning in one of her works and received a grateful letter from him in response. They met in 1845, fell madly in love, and ignoring the disapproval of her father eloped to Italy in 1846. Their departure took place as planned on the morning of Sunday, 20, September, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, their maid Elizabeth Wilson, and their dog Flush, stepped ashore from the Southampton boat at Le Havre. They left behind them a very angry man (Karlin 169). In fact, Mr. Barrett returned Elizabeth’s letters unopened for the rest of her life. Her health improved in Italy and she gave birth to a son in 1849, Robert Wiedermann Barrett Browning. Perhaps, her best-known work, Sonnets to the Portuguese , a volume of poems to her husband was written during their years in Italy. She became ill in 1861, and after only fifteen glorious years together, she died