The Theme of Love

The Theme of Love

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an accomplished writer at an early age. Her success continued throughout her adult life. The theme of love was intertwined in most her works. Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning consistently used the theme of love, it was what transpired from that love which gave her personal life success, health, and marriage. The sequence of events for her life never followed the usual paths.

Browning's success was bitter sweet due to many of the positive and negative aspects of her life. Her father published "The Battle of Marathon" anonymously. Publishing works anonymously was a common practice for women writers of this era. De Profoundis expressed the grief and guilt for her brother's death. When she states "While the tears drop, my days go on" (Classic Poetry Series. 38; pt. IV, line 5), Browning is expressing her guilt of living due to the circumstances of her brothers drowning. She felt guilty because if it had not been for her going to Torquay for a "rest cure" (Leslie), he would not have drowned in the bay.

The success followed with the popular poem "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count thy Ways". Her inspiration came from her courtship with Robert Browning. Elizabeth Barrett Browning expresses "I love thee with the passion put to use. In my old griefs, and with my child hood faith" (line 9-10), where she is revealing her love for Robert Browning which would not be possible without her past struggles and heartaches from childhood. This poem was part of Sonnets of The Portuguese which critics acclaimed to be her most inspirational work. Browning never won any award for her writing but was considered for the Poet Laureate of England, succeeding William Wordsworth.

Success came to Browning with many obstacles with the main one being health. Elizabeth Barrett Browning constantly struggled for mental and physical health. Diagnosed at age fifteen with a nervous disorder and prescribed opium. There have been reports that Browning suffered from opium addiction because she used it throughout her life. The loss of her mother and brother sent her into a depression. The emotional tragedies of Browning's life inspired her writing of poems. At thirty-one years of age Browning suffered a lung ailment and lived in seclusion as an invalid. During this time she published "Seraphim-Other Poems" including "Cowper's Grave" and "The Cry of The Children" which were the first works to be published under her name and not anonymously. This seclusion began the correspondence with well-known writers of literature, such as, Thomas Carlyle, Edgar Allan Poe, William Wordsworth, and Robert Browning. Once the correspondence with Robert Browning began and a courtship established, Browning's health began to improve. Upon his visits to her she would walk and her strength grew. Her health did not seem to hold her back from traveling and having a child after her marriage. She suffered minor setbacks but never sank into the invalidism she did as a child. Elizabeth Barrett Browning continued to have a nurse throughout her life and eventually died of damage to her lungs from a childhood infection of the lungs.

Along with improved health came a blossoming romance with Robert Browning. Browning had been defied not to marry by her father. A selfish indulgence on his part as to not have to share her with anyone because of the bond that had grown after his wife had passed. To hide the romance from her father, she disguised her correspondences with Robert Browning in the book Sonnets of The Portuguese. If anyone asked she was translating the poems. They chose "Portuguese" because it was the nickname he called Browning. Mr. Browning asked Elizabeth Barrett Browning to marry and knowing her father would disapprove; they eloped and were married in a church in London. She never mended her relationship with her father. He died without them ever speaking again. The Brownings made their home in Florence, Italy. This was not the norm for this era because Robert Browning was six years her junior and had not achieved the success she had. A year after the marriage, 1847, Browning gave birth to Robert Weidman "Pen" Browning. Browning was forty-three years of age when she had her son which was rare for women of this time period. The Brownings compared their love affair to Sleeping Beauty because Browning seemed to be reborn with her new found romance.

Sonnets of The Portuguese were not published until after the marriage of the couple. Both struggled with the decision to publish due to the poems revealing the private intimacy and passion of the couple. Robert Browning wanted to protect his wife from any public scrutiny and preserve her reputation as a lady. The popularity of "Sonnet 43" seemed to demonstrate the love and passion she felt for Robert Browning. "Sonnet 43" well known for its first line reads, "How do I love thee?, let me count thy ways, "is recognized but few people can recite the second line. The