Feminism and Poetry in Aurora Leigh

 Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s novel Aurora Leigh was originally published in the year 1857. Barrett wrote this novel during the Victorian era, which was a time when many social injustices prevailed, such as the oppression of the Italians by the Austrians, child labor in the mines and mills of England, the slave trade in America, and forced restrictions upon women during the 19th century. This particular novel by the author and poet may be seen as a heavily feminist text as it rebelled and challenged the
 male-dominated society and norms of the time.
Today, this novel may still be seen as quite modern and relevant. The main protagonist of the novel, Aurora Leigh, rejects a marriage proposal in her early twenties in order to focus on her own ambition, literary career, and self. This in itself was a bold decision made by Aurora, considering the fact that she was living in a society where in order to be seen and accepted as an accomplished woman, she had to be married and settled. This raises a question for the readers of current times as well, as women who are married young question whether they were able to live out their youth prior to it. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, through her novel, emphasizes the idea that women can be just as intellectually driven and ambitious as men and still lead a full and meaningful life, as opposed to the view of the time that women could not be as passionate or reach and comprehend intellectual depth, as is seen depicted in the beginning portions of the novel through the character of Romney Leigh.
Elizabeth, in her lifetime, was regarded and admired as one of England’s greatest poets as she focused on her works on humanism, feminism, and liberalism. She was wealthy and self-taught. In the novel, after the death of Aurora Leigh’s parents, she is sent off to England to live with her aunt, who teaches her the skills women of her time were expected to learn to be seen as polished, which included sewing, embroidery, music, and dance. Women at the time were restricted from learning languages, having knowledge of conflicted or controversial books, and were also deprived of a proper university education. Aurora rebelled against her aunt, rejected a marriage proposal, and made a place for herself in London in the literary sphere. She represented a strong, independent, and intellectually driven woman. In her life, she also came across Marian Erle, who was ill-treated and had an abusive relationship with her parents. She had been sent off to a brothel, was raped and even had an illegitimate child. According to the female readers of that time, some criticized the inclusion of a character like Marian Erle as immoral. This was because in Victorian society, even if a woman had an illegitimate child from forced abuse or rape out of wed lock, they were still seen as "the fallen woman", impure or immoral. Elizabeth Barrett Browning intentionally wrote a novel with the inclusion of such a character so as to de-marginalize them, give them a voice, and to get them back into society. In the novel, Aurora moves with Marian and her child to Florence. Later in her life, Aurora also admitted that she was wrong to have believed completely in only her own independence and that life could not have been complete without a partner or loved one to share responsibilities and a loving relationship. Through Marian’s attitude and feelings, Elizabeth Browning also expressed her own experience as a mother.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was of the belief that feminism in itself was a feature of modernity. She also believed that in order to truly be progressive, it was important to be feminist in one’s stance as well. She gave a voice through poetry for women and all poets after her. She also believed that if poetry were to be seen as a medium for women to express and represent themselves, then feminist concerns were important too. Hence, both poetry and feminism could be seen hand in hand, together.