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Chargement... Two-Way Mirror: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (édition 2021)par Fiona Sampson (Auteur)
Information sur l'oeuvreTwo-Way Mirror: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning par Fiona Sampson
   Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.  peggybr | Sep 26, 2021 |  aucune critique | ajouter une critique
"A nuanced, comprehensive portrait of Britain's most famous female poet, a woman who invented herself and defied her times. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." With these words, Elizabeth Barrett Browning has come down to us as a romantic heroine, a recluse controlled by a domineering father and often overshadowed by her husband, Robert Browning. But behind the melodrama lies a thoroughly modern figure whose extraordinary life is a study in self-invention. Born into an age when women could neither own property once married nor vote, Barrett Browning seized control of her private income, overcame long-term illness, eloped to revolutionary Italy with Browning, and achieved lasting literary fame. A feminist icon, political activist, and international literary superstar, she inspired writers as diverse as Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, and Virginia Woolf. The first biography of Barrett Browning in more than three decades, with unique access to the poet's abundant correspondence, Two-Way Mirror holds up a mirror to the woman, her art, and the art of biography itself"-- Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)821.8Literature English & Old English literatures English poetry 1837-1899 Victorian period, 19th centuryClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (3.58)
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The first-born into the large Barrett family, her genius was recognized early. Due to a combination of family wealth and chronic ill health, she was free to pursue her passion of writing poetry. We all know that she eventually meets Robert Browning and elopes with him to Italy. During her relatively short married life, she produces a son and writes, among other things, the work she is most famous for, Aurora Lee. The Browning family continually move between England, France and Italy, hoping warmer climates will help Elizabeth's ailments. She still dies relatively young, and her husband lives another quarter century beyond her.
One thing that struck me on reading this book was the privilege that was her life. She was pampered her entire life, first by her father, and then by her husband. There is nothing wrong with this, but it seems odd to someone from the 20th and 21st centuries. I wonder about others of her generation who were not so blessed, and who most likely lived shorter lives, or whose own ambitions were thwarted by having to work for a living. This does not take away from her genius, but it makes me wonder about all of the other people whose potential was snuffed out, as they were not able to live such a life. Perhaps this seems petty, but I recently finished 'The Education of Henry Adams,' another man lucky enough to be born into a wealthy (and famous in his case) family, and who spent his lifetime traveling, like EBB, and writing. I got the same impression after reading that book, too.
In any case, I am glad i read the book. I found the writing adequate but not always comprehensible. maybe its my American roots. For anyone who is a big EBB fan, however, this book is a must read. (