The Sexual Battle in Browning’s Aurora Leigh

2302 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Writing style of elizabeth barrett browning

The Sexual Battle in Browning’s Aurora Leigh

Women Beware Women, Beware Your Rivals, and most of all, Women Beware Sexual Jealousy all apply equally well to Aurora Leigh, but Victorian society was not ready for such honesty, so these themes all had to be encoded in Elizabeth Barret Browning's epic novel-poem. Aurora Leigh is a sexual battle rather than a battle of the sexes. Aurora's major problem isn't being accepted in a male world of poetry, but in fending off rivals for her future sexual partner. Yet she does this with admirable dexterity for one who lacked a mother to instruct her in the ways of the world. This is due to an essential coldness in her character, present also in Romney, but tempered in him by a philanthropism, which is endearing, if on Elizabeth Barret Browning's terms misguided. Romney is an essentially passive character, which is prepared to marry all three women although he loves Aurora-(though he never proposed to Lady Waldemar, she maintains that he would if Aurora hadn't got in the way). Thus he becomes the object around which their manipulations centre. In life, it appears while competing for anything, the expected gender behaviours are that 'Men fight, Women spite', and Aurora Leigh definitely explores the regions of spite.

The most important thing women should beware of in other women is rampant sexual jealousy, which wells up from the unconscious to control the conscious actions of Aurora. Women, beware it in yourselves! Aurora never consciously recognised that this was affecting her judgement and behaviour, but Elizabeth Barrett Browning made it obvious to her readers that this was happening. Sexual jealousy is the cause of Aurora Leigh's seriously over-developed hostility to Lady Wa...

... middle of paper ...

...unate sisters.

Bibliography...

Barret Browning, Elizabeth : Aurora Leigh, edited, introduction and notes by Kerry McSweeny, World's Classics edition, Oxford University Press, 1993

Case, Alison : Gender and Narration in Aurora Leigh, Victorian Poetry, Vol.29, no.1, Spring 1991 West Virginia University Press

(NB: this article was intensely unpleasant to read, very boring and completely useless, but since I went through the torture of reading it, I feel justified putting it amongst my references.)

Kaplan, Cora : Introduction to Women's Press edition of Aurora Leigh, 1978

Mermin, Dorothy : Genre and Gender in Aurora Leigh, Victorian Newsletter, no.69,Spring 1986

Steinmetz, Virginia : Images of "Mother-Want" in Elizabeth Barret Browning's Aurora Leigh, Victorian Poetry, Vol.21, no.4, Winter 1983 West Virginia University Press.

Show More
Related

  • From Aphrodite Of Knidos To The Old Market Woman

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, both sculptures do not have much in common, but it is obvious that the artists had knowledge in human anatomy and was able to sculpt them spectacularly. It is also obvious the break from somewhat idealistic to realistic human nature. The change is so drastic that one might not believe that both sculptures come from the same Greece because it is so well-known for its astonishing artworks found in temples, building, etc.

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier and Elizabeth Bennet: Challenge of 19th Century Conventional Methods

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...es for love and overcame the social expectations of the quintessential woman in the nineteenth century; whereas their counterparts around them would have chosen class and wealth. Edna Pontellier’s decision to move into her pigeon house and away from her husband’s rule and the vexing job of caring for her children was viewed as societal suicide, but to her liberation and self-actualization as a woman was more important. Elizabeth Bennet ultimately disregarded her mother’s wishes, and passed over Mr. Collins, she initially disregarded Mr. Darcy as a possible suitor but love proved otherwise. These women were on a path of destruction to free themselves from a long reign of oppression, their challenge of conventional methods within the nineteenth century, proved successful not only to them, but for a future collective group of women who would follow in their footsteps.

    Read More

  • Comparing Males in Browning's Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ingersoll, Earl G. "Lacan, Browning, and the Murderous Voyeur: "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess." Victorian Poetry 28 (1990): 151-157.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Little House on the Prairie

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...

    Read More

  • The Effects of Angelman Syndrome on Behavior, Cognition, and Development

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...J., Knoll, J. H., Kyllerman, M., Laan, L. A., … Schinzel, A. A. (2006). Angelman Syndrome 2005 : Updated Consensus for Diagnostic Criteria, 418, 413–418. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a

    Read More

  • Is There a Duty for Global Wealth Redistribution?

    2413 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many theorists and philosophers have discussed these questions in-depth and much of the literature has been framed between a ‘statist and cosmopolitan’ approach. The cosmopolitan connotes as a belief in cosmopolis or a ‘world state’ and they believe that a single set of fundamental norms of justice applies to all citizens, regardless of nationality. (Heywood, 2012) Cosmopolitans usually determine that we should all be concerned about inequality, fairness...

    Read More

  • Organ Sales: A Potential Lifesaver and Solution

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    Why are organ sales illegal? Donors of blood, semen, and eggs are often compensated. Why not apply the same guide lines to organs? Joanna Mackay(2013) explains in her article Organ Sales Will Save Lives, “About 350,000 Americans suffer from end-stage renal disease.”(p. 120) At this stage of renal disease, the kidneys are no longer able to remove enough wastes and excess fluids from the body. Therefore, you would need dialysis or a kidney transplant.

    Read More

  • Organ Trade Essay

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Organ donations are crucial for people in emergency situations. For years organ donations have saved the lives of millions. The problem with people needing organs is that there are not enough organs to be supplied to everyone who needs it. There are many people who die because they are not able to obtain lifesaving organs. The need for organs exceeds the supply given. Thus, leading me to ask this essential question, “Should organ donation be a part of the market?” To support this question I have prepared three supportive claims, but since my answer is no my reasons will revolve around this argument. First, I will state why I do not agree with such a thing, and then I will support my claim by stating why it is so bad, and to end my paper I will state what place(s) legalizes trade.

    Read More

  • Characters Dealing with Depression in Two Popular Contemporary Novels

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hader, Suzanne. "The Bildungsroman Genre." The Bildungsroman Genre: Great Expectations, Aurora Leigh, and Waterland. The Victorian Web, 21 February 2005. Web. 6 April 2014.

    Read More

  • Legalization of human organs sales in America

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... my journey researching organ transaction I have a whole new look on the matter. For one with the increasing number of people that have organ failure there is a decreasing number of donors. People will go to great lengths to insure their health by traveling to different country’s or buying form an illegal market for the organ they need because there are insufficient number of organs in the States. Also I know there can be a market for organs if we would just look past all the greed and see how many people are dieing each day from organ failure. Last but not least is the very epicenter of the whole problem, doctors and insurance companies are holding us down from a market of legal organ trade just so the can get an extra buck. Without a doubt my opinion of legalizing organ trade has grown stronger and someday I hope the Government sees it the same way I do some day.

    Read More

  • The Crucial Necessity of Organ Donation

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    But it exists today: an illegal market in human organs, black markets. Selling a body part seems unethical, but a closer look, reveals no bright line in the laws of most countries. It is legal for men to sell their sperm, for women to sell their limited number of reproductive eggs or use their wombs as surrogate mothers, people who selling their hairs and blood. And it is not understandable and clear why the same standards should not be applied to organs donation such as kidney, part of liver. These organs donation are not riskier than other plain medical surgeries or operations. Research and experience in medicine shows that with one kidney and part of the liver which grow back fast person can live normal healthy life. Many people who might be persuaded that organ donation is safe have another problem: the burden of organ donation fall on those who are already financially disadvantage. Suffering of the poor people would be increased by a market for a human organ is not a trivial one. American law attempts to protect poor people by prohibiting for selling organs. The problem is these attempts hurt poor, donors, human lives. The results of not enough organ donors in United States, combined with the legal sale of organs, there is a black market also. Every year a thousands of people from wealthy countries, including US, travel to poorer, less legally serious countries to buy kidneys

    Read More

  • Mothers of the Victorian Period

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thaden, Barbara. The Maternal Voice in Victorian Fiction: Rewriting the Patriarchal Family. New York: Garland, 1997.

    Read More

  • “How Do I Love Thee?” Understanding the Victorian Era Through Browning and Stickney Ellis

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...time. The undying devotion from a woman to a man, still existed in Ellis, but with the feeling that it was to the religious salvation end. For Browning, these ends were simply obstacles that were lost to her as the wear of sickness ground on her. Within her deep relationship with Robert, was still a meaningful relationship that Ellis may argue with. But such arguments were frequently held over these ideas in the Victorian Era.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott

    2170 Words  | 5 Pages

    In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life? Close reading reveals more than one possible answer to this question, but the overriding theme seems sympathetic to the Lady. By applying "the feminist critique" (Peterson 333-334) to Tennyson's famous poem, one may begin to understand how "The Lady of Shalott" not only analyzes, but actually critiques the attitudes that held women back and, in the end, makes a hopeful, less patriarchal statement about the place of women in Victorian society.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of How Do I Love Thee

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    She says “writing can be an expression of one 's innermost feelings. It can allow the reader to tap into the deepest recesses of one 's heart and soul. It is indeed the gifted author that can cause the reader to cry at her words and feel hope within the same poem. Many authors as well, as ordinary people use writing as a way to release emotions.” She makes plenty points in her review that I completely agree with. After reading the poem I think that Elizabeth Barret Browning is not only the author of her famous poem, but also the speaker as well. She is a woman simply expressing her love for her husband in a passionate way through poetry. In the 1st Line it reads “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” A woman drunk in love she is, and next she begins to count the numerous ways she can love her significant

    Read More

More about The Sexual Battle in Browning’s Aurora Leigh

Open Document