Aurora Leigh

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2016

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Elizabeth Barrett Browning's epic "Aurora Leigh" which was published in 1856. It is the story of an orphan, Aurora, born in Italy to an English father and Tuscan mother, who is brought up by an aunt in rural Shropshire. She has a successful career as a poet in London and, when living in Florence, is reunited with her cousin, Romney Leigh, whose proposal she turned down a decade before. The poem was celebrated by other poets and was Elizabeth Barrett Browning's most commercially successful. Over 11,000 lines, she addressed many Victorian social issues, including reform, illegitimacy, the pressure to marry and what women must overcome to be independent, successful writers, in a world dominated by men. With Margaret Reynolds Professor of English at Queen Mary, University of London Daniel Karlin Winterstoke Professor of English Literature at the University of Bristol And Karen O'Brien Professor of English Literature at King's College London Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time
0:04.0	and for our terms of use please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio for.
0:09.0	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.5	Hello Elizabeth Browning's epic perm or roarly was published at the end of 1856.
0:17.9	It was immensely popular selling in vast numbers in Britain and America.
0:22.0	Then nothing has Robert Browning's reputation increased, his wife's evaporated.
0:26.8	In the words of Junior Wolf, fate has not been kind to Mrs. Browning as a writer.
0:31.4	A roarly is a novel in the form of a poem.
0:34.0	A desired is a poet, a roar, discovering how a woman can make an independent career as a writer.
0:39.7	It also addresses what was known as the woman question, the role and rights of women in society.
0:44.7	One character, Mary and Earl, scandalized readers by refusing to be ashamed of her illegitimate child.
0:50.6	Rejecting a marriage proposal that according to the values of the time
0:53.7	would have made her an honest woman again.
0:56.2	With me to discuss Elizabeth's Barrett Browning's or roarly are Margaret Reynolds,
1:00.5	Professor of English at Queen Mary University of London.
1:04.1	Danielle Carlin, Wintersdork Professor of English Literature at the University of Bristol.
1:08.6	Karen O'Brien, Professor of English Literature at King's College London.
1:13.0	Margaret O'Peggy.
1:14.3	Reynolds, right? That's it.
1:15.6	She was born Elizabeth Baron,
1:19.3	Elizabeth Milton Barrett.
1:21.2	Sorry, let's start again.
	...

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