Elizabeth Barrett Browning

1
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• Her life,works and other interesting facts

2
Her early years

• Born March 6, 1806 in Durham England
• Eldest of 12 children
• Self-educated at home
• At age 15, fell off her pony, which resulted in a
  spinal injury
• First in family born in England. The Barrett
  family came from Jamaica

3
Her married life

• In January 1845 poet Robert Browning sent
  Elizabeth a telegram about her collection which
  was published in 1844
• 574 letters were exchanged between the couple
  over a 20 month period
• Met early in the summer of 1845

4
Her married life cont...

• Wedding took place September 12, 1846
• Elizabeth kept the wedding from her father
• Has 1 son, Robert Wideman Browning on March 9,
  1849 after 2 miscarriages

5
Sonnets From The Portuguese

• Published in 1850
• 44 Sonnets
• abba, abba, cde, cde stanzas
• Written in iambic pentameter
• Reflects on her relationship with her husband,
  Robert

6
Form of Sonnets From the Portuguese

• Sonnets 1 to 9 show the first stages of a
  relationship
• Sonnet 10 illustrates the changes of love and her
  personal transformation
• Sonnet 20 to 25 portray the union of two souls
• Sonnets 28 and 29 are breathless love poems

7
Form of Sonnets From the Portuguese cont

• In sonnet 30, Elizabeth doubts love is real
• Then in sonnet 33, she has complete confidence in
  the relationship
• Sonnet 35 returns her doubts about love
• Finally in sonnet 44 she offers her sonnets to
  her beloved one, just as he has given her many
  flowers

8
Other Elizabeth B. Browning works

• 1844 Poems
• 1849 The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point
• 1857 Aurora Leigh, a blank-verse poem
• 1851 Casa Guidi Windows
• 1860 Poems Before Congress

9
Information about works

• The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point was written
  to protest slavery in the United States
• Casa Guidi Windows was written in reference to
  Italian politics and Napoleon III
• Last Poems was published a year after her death

10
Themes and styles of writing

• Politics
• Love
• Slavery
• Browning used blank-verse
• Sonnets

11
Her death (

• Doctors increased her dose of morphine to stop
  pain
• Stopped breathing due to an overdose of morphine
• Died in Roberts arms on June 29, 1861