Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Aurora Leigh

In my opinion, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh can be considered an early feminist work. Browning, herself was an independent and intelligent woman at her time who enjoyed much success while she lived, and still married and had a child. Her poem Aurora Leigh too showcases a strong woman who too works to achieve her dreams.

Aurora does not hesitate to go after what she wants. She discovers a passion for poetry and becomes a poet. She falls in love, but she refuses to be a maid in a marriage.

"God's hand did interpose 'twixt it and me,
I know so much of love as used to shine
In that face and another. Just so much;
No more indeed at all. I have not seen
So much love since, I pray you pardon me,
As answers even to make a marriage with
In this cold land of England. What you love
Is not a woman, Romney, but a cause:
You want a helpmate, not a mistress, sir,
A wife to help your ends, -- in her no end.
Your cause is noble, your ends excellent,
But I, being most unworthy of these and that,
Do otherwise concieve of love. Farewell." (line 392-406)

Aurora Leigh refuses to marry any man who will not put her before his work. She wants to experience a marriage of equals, but also of two people who possess an all consuming love for each other. She does not want to come in second to a cause or another woman. Therefore, she swears off marriage to a man who she believes loves another better than he loves her. Even though she admits she has feelings for Romney, she will not marry him. He loves his "social theory" better than he will ever love her (line 410). Therefore, Romney cannot give her the relationship she desires, and she rejects his proposal. Aurora is her own woman. She is not afraid to live alone or reject a proposal that most women would accept. She does not live according to the standards of the time. Aurora values her independence over the proper concept of how a woman is supposed to behave.

She further presses the idea of women no female Christ.

"You give us doating mothers, and perfect wives,
Sublime Madonnas and enduring saints!
We get no Christs from you, -- and verily
We shall not get a poet, in my mind." (line 222-225).

Women are only worthy of being the mother of Christ, or being the mother of great men. Women in this society are not allowed to be great in their own right. The comparison of Christ to a poet represents that both are identified as male professions. Christ was a man not a woman, therefore a woman cannot be considered a female Christ, only a Madonna. The same goes for a poet. It is proper for a man to be a poet, but a woman should not consider a profession at all. Women are meant to stand behind the men, but Aurora Leigh and Browning are prepared to change that stereotype.