Literary Analysis of Victorian Poetry: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

TL;DR

Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses subversive affection to challenge Victorian ideals, presenting love as a divinely sanctioned force that defies social, moral, and gendered restrictions. Her poetry contrasts with contemporary works like Luhrmann's by highlighting love's spiritual power against societal constraints, revealing that core values can resist disruption. You'll explore how her sonnets, particularly through imagery and rhetorical devices, articulate this powerful, transformative love against a backdrop of personal suffering and societal expectation.

1. The Mental Model

Think of Barrett Browning's poetry as a quiet but powerful rebellion. She uses love, often seen as a private emotion, to openly defy the strict, often suffocating, expectations placed on Victorian women and society at large. Her "subversive affections" aren't just about personal feelings; they're a divinely-backed challenge to the rigid rules of her time.

2. The Core Material

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (EBB) deeply explores how "subversive affections" challenge the "contextual values" of her Victorian era. Her work often contrasts with modern interpretations, such as Luhrmann's, to show how she positions love as a powerful, "divinely endorsed challenge" to societal norms, rather than just a reflection of materialism.

Subversive Affection as a Divinely Sanctioned Force

EBB uses "subversive affection" as a "divinely sanctioned and spiritually authoritative force" against Victorian restrictions. Specifically, she targets "female expression and social conformity." You can see this as her way of asserting love's "spiritually empowered force capable of transcending the restrictive moral, social and gendered expectations" of her time.

graph TD
    A["EBB's Subversive Affection"] --> B["Divinely Sanctioned Force"]
    B --> C["Challenges Victorian Ideals"]
    C --> D{"Restrictive Ideals"}
    D --> D1["Female Expression"]
    D --> D2["Social Conformity"]
    D --> D3["Moral Expectations"]
    D --> D4["Gendered Expectations"]
    C --> E["Love as Transcendent Power"]
    E --> F["Resists Societal Erasure"]

Context of Confinement and Challenge

EBB's personal "experiences of illness, isolation and parental control" heavily influenced her portrayal of love. She creates a "context of emotional confinement" using imagery like "darkness and the death-hour rounding it." This suggests that love, rather than being diminished by suffering, is accentuated by it. The "perfection of the afterlife, from a christian perspective, would diminish" this earthly love's intensity, implying that present suffering makes love more profound.

Challenging Victorian Modesty and Class

EBB directly challenges two key Victorian ideals:

1. Female Modesty: Initially, EBB hesitates to express her feelings, fearing her affection "should seem a 'cuckoo-song'." This reflects the "internalised pressure of a society that valued female modesty and emotional restraint." Her ultimate expression of love directly rebels against this.
2. Class Boundaries: She also "challenges Victorian class boundaries by presenting affection as morally equalising rather than hierarchical." This shows love as a force that levels social distinctions.

Love as a Transformative Force

EBB's sonnets demonstrate love's "transformative force that resists societal erasure." Her letters, reflecting her deep love for Robert Browning, are central to this. Phrases like "And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, between our faces, to cast light on each?" illustrate this.

• The "rhetorical question" highlights how "holding the torch is to harbour strong" love despite external dangers.
• The "winds are rough, extinguishing it," showing "external dangers" and how their love is "forbidden."
• "And" acts as a "structural and conversational effect," suggesting a continuation of "a previously unspoken thought with a conversational, intimate, or immediate tone." This highlights that without their written communication, there would be "blank silence," reinforcing how Victorian society suppressed "female emotional expression."
• The "quivering" suggests how the "letters seem alive" with love, bringing both the paper and EBB herself to life, allowing the "paper [to] subvert these values."

3. Worked Example

Let's look more closely at the quote "And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough, between our faces, to cast light on each?"

EBB uses this rhetorical question to reimagine the act of expressing deep affection. In Victorian society, women were largely expected to be passive and modest, certainly not to "hold the torch" in a relationship, especially one that might be considered socially unconventional. The "winds are rough" clearly metaphorizes the "external dangers" and societal disapproval they faced – perhaps due to their difference in status or the intensity of her expression, which was seen as unfeminine.

However, by framing it as "to cast light on each," EBB elevates their shared love beyond simple defiance. It suggests mutual illumination, understanding, and divine endorsement. This isn't just a forbidden act; it's an act of spiritual revelation and connection, directly "challenging patriarchal conventions that sought to regulate women's voice and experiences of love" by asserting her agency and the spiritual validity of her passion. The implied answer to the rhetorical question is a resounding "yes," we will hold this torch, transforming a dangerous act into one of profound, defiant connection.

4. Key Takeaways

• EBB uses "subversive affections" as a tool to challenge restrictive Victorian social, moral, and gendered ideals.
• Her personal experiences of suffering and isolation deepen the portrayal of love's transformative power.
• Love in her sonnets is portrayed as "divinely sanctioned," giving it spiritual authority to defy societal norms.
• She actively subverts Victorian expectations of female modesty and class hierarchy through her frank expressions of love.
• Rhetorical questions and imagery, like "holding the torch," highlight love's resilience against external pressures and societal suppression.
• The written word (letters/sonnets) becomes a vital medium for expressing love, countering the silence imposed on women.
• This reimagined affection transforms from a personal feeling into a potent force resisting societal erasure.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Don't only focus on the personal aspect of EBB's love; remember its societal challenge.
- Avoid treating "subversive affections" as merely romantic; recognize their "divinely sanctioned" and authoritative nature.
- Don't forget to link specific poetic devices (imagery, rhetorical questions) to how they convey her challenge.
- Be careful not to generalize her ideas beyond the Victorian context without explicit support from your source material.

5. Now Try It

You've explored how EBB uses subversive affection to challenge Victorian values. Now, choose one more specific line or image from Sonnet 43 ("How Do I Love Thee?") – for example, "I love thee with the breath, / Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose, / I shall but love thee better after death." Analyze how this specific phrasing demonstrates love as a "divinely endorsed challenge" to Victorian ideals regarding death and the afterlife, especially in contrast to the idea that the "perfection of the afterlife...would diminish" love. What specific words or imagery contribute to this challenge?

Success looks like: A short paragraph that clearly identifies a specific phrase or image, explains how it acts as "subversive affection," connects it to a particular Victorian ideal (like views on death/afterlife), and demonstrates how it portrays love as "divinely endorsed," using language from our notes.