Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Born 1806, the eldest child of a prosperous merchant family Self-educated at home from the age of four Composed her first poem at the age of eleven Suffered an injury to her spine at the age of fifteen and illness seven years later. This left her an invalid all her life At age of twenty published her first book of poetry In 1832, family suffered financial loss. The family moved to London

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning Due to poor health, she moved to Rorquay on the south coast of Devonshire Spent three years living as an invalid Returned to London and resigned herself to life confined to her bedroom as an invalid. In 1845, she began exchanging letters with Robert Browning The following year they married and moved to Florence, Italy Their son Robert was born in 1849 Elizabeth died in 1861 At the time of her death, she was more popular than Robert

Images of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

E.B. Browning’s Poetry ‘ Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850) Casa Guidi Windows (1851) Aurora Leigh (1857) Collection of poetry published after her death

Sonnets from the Portuguese The sonnets record her love for Robert The sonnets progressed as her relationship with Browning progressed Great outpouring of feeling and intensity of passion

Aurora Leigh Synthesis of lyric and narrative elements, literary and social theory Foundational text for women poets, feminist activists, and feminist literary scholars. A prose narrative of an artist’s development