Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A Life Written in Defiance and Verse

Linked below is my AV about the life and work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I fell in love with EBB’s Sonnet 43, and a reading of the sonnet is included towards the end of my story of her life and work. I made it some time ago but have today moved it onto my new YouTube Channel : @ChrisWiddallAV I’m working on ideas for a new AV, which I’ll post when it’s ready.

Here is a summary of the AV:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), one of England’s greatest poets, defied social norms with literary works like Aurora Leigh and Sonnets from the Portuguese. Browning used poetry to advocate for women’s freedom, to criticise slavery and to champion social justice (she herself was descended from a family of plantation owners in the West Indies). Despite chronic illness, Elizabeth famously escaped a restrictive father and married fellow poet Robert Browning, escaping with him to Florence, Italy, where they lived for the rest of her life.

There are very few photographs of Elizabeth and Robert. So, most of the images have been created as representations of the couple and how they might have looked.