Meeting Robert Browning and works of
this time
Poems made her one of the most popular writers in the land at the time
and inspired Robert Browning to write to her, telling her how much he loved her
poems. Kenyon arranged for Robert Browning to meet Elizabeth in May 1845, and
so began one of the most famous courtships in literature. Elizabeth had
produced a large amount of work and had been writing long before Robert
Browning had. However, he had a great influence on her writing, as did she on
his: two of Barrett’s most famous pieces were produced after she met Browning,
Sonnets from the Portuguese and Aurora Leigh. Robert's Men and Women is a
product of that time. Some critics, however, point to him as an undermining
influence: "Until her relationship with Robert Browning began in 1845,
Barrett’s willingness to engage in public discourse about social issues and
about aesthetic issues in poetry, which had been so strong in her youth,
gradually diminished, as did her physical health. As an intellectual presence
and a physical being, she was becoming a shadow of herself".
"Portuguese" was a pet name her husband used. Sonnets from the
Portuguese also refers to the series of sonnets of the 16th-century Portuguese
poet Luís de Camões; in all these poems she used rhyme schemes typical of the
Portuguese sonnets. The verse-novel Aurora Leigh, her most ambitious and
perhaps the most popular of her longer poems, appeared in 1856. It is the story
of a woman writer making her way in life, balancing work and love. The writings
depicted in this novel are based on similar, personal experiences that
Elizabeth suffered through herself. The North American Review praised
Elizabeth’s poem in these words: “Mrs. Browning’s poems are, in all respects,
the utterance of a woman—of a woman of great learning, rich experience, and
powerful genius, uniting to her woman’s nature the strength which is sometimes
thought peculiar to a man.”
Courtship and marriage to Robert
Browning
The courtship and marriage between Robert Browning and Elizabeth were
carried out secretly. Six years his elder and an invalid, she could not believe
that the vigorous and worldly Robert Browning really loved her as much as he
professed to. After a private marriage at St. Marylebone Parish Church,
Browning imitated his hero Shelley by spiriting his beloved off to Italy in
August 1846, which became her home almost continuously until her death.
Elizabeth's loyal nurse, Wilson, who witnessed the marriage, accompanied the
couple to Italy.
Mr. Barrett disinherited Elizabeth, as he did each of his children who
married. As Elizabeth had some money of her own, the couple were reasonably
comfortable in Italy, and their relationship together was harmonious. The
Brownings were well respected in Italy, and even famous. Elizabeth grew
stronger and in 1849, at the age of 43, she gave birth to a son, Robert
Wiedemann Barrett Browning, whom they called Pen. Their son later married but
had no legitimate children, so there are apparently no direct descendants of
the two famous poets.
“Several Browning critics have suggested that the poet decided that he
was an "objective poet" and then sought out a “subjective poet” in
the hope that dialogue with her would enable him to be more successful.”
At her husband's insistence, the second edition of Elizabeth’s Poems
included her love sonnets; as a result, her popularity increased (as well as
critical regard), and her position was confirmed. In 1850, upon the occasion of
the death of William Wordsworth, her name was proposed for Poet Laureate, but
the position went to Tennyson.