Aurora Leigh Summary
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Biography EssayAmong all women poets of the Englishspeaking world in the nineteenth century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of her views t... Read more

Among all women poets of the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of her views than Elizabeth ... Read more

In the following essay, Tucker examines the “epicizing conventions” in Aurora Leigh, discussing principles of structure, narrative technique, and the dichotomy between the human and the ... Read more

In the following essay, Schatz suggests that Barrett Browning created Aurora Leigh as a role model for Victorian women and a figure of feminine strength, demonstrating that a woman could contribute to... Read more

In the following essay, published for the first time in 2002, Montefiore examines images of God and the use of the female body as metaphor in Aurora Leigh. The Paps We All Have Sucked  �... Read more

In the following essay, Tasker addresses Barrett Browning's contribution to the verse-novel genre in Victorian literature. What is it about Aurora Leigh that allows Cora Kaplan to claim it a... Read more

In the following essay, Gottlieb compares Aurora Leigh with Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth, illuminating contrasting notions of feminine identity in the characters of Marian and Ruth. Elizabeth Ga... Read more

In the following essay, Wallace explores themes of gender, labor, and writing in Aurora Leigh, linking these motifs with the georgic and peripatetic literary genres. The November 1993 conference, &... Read more

In the following essay, Louis underscores connections between Aurora Leigh and the sentimental literary tradition popularized by poets Letitia Elizabeth Landon and Felicia Hemans. Elizabeth Barrett... Read more

In the following essay, Case probes Aurora Leigh's conflicting role as the heroine-narrator of both a conventional love story and a Künstlerroman. With Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barrett... Read more

In the following essay, Hickok explores Browning's feminist inversion of conventional literary and social norms in Aurora Leigh. I Interest in Aurora Leigh, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ha... Read more

In this essay, Mermin contends that Aurora Leigh transgresses the distinction between poetry and fiction, and between males and females, claiming that the "novel in verse" ends "w... Read more

In the following excerpt, Reynolds discusses the politics and literary influences that shaped Browning's Aurora Leigh. She also summarizes the poem and discusses its approach to issues of femin... Read more

In the following excerpt, Aytoun summarizes the plot of Aurora Leigh and gives it a mixed assessment; he criticizes some of the book's themes while admiring Browning's poetic style. F... Read more

In the following excerpt, Roscoe claims that Aurora Leigh shows great poetic promise, but faults its excessive length, finding the work filled with unnecessary detail and its characters vague and indi... Read more

In the following essay, Swinburne recalls his first reading of Aurora Leigh, and claims that the book pays adequate tribute to the genius of its author. Coventry Patmore, in a Letter to Poet William... Read more

In the excerpt that follows, Gilbert and Gubar claim that Aurora Leigh "may well have been the most reasonable compromise between assertion and submission that a sane and worldly woman poet cou... Read more