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seafirefly's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
jcol's review against another edition
4.0
"Of writing many books there is no end;
And I who have written much in prose and verse
For others' uses, will write now for mine-
Will write my story for my better self
As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is."
Although fairly difficult to read and understand for a non-native speaker of English as myself, Aurora Leigh is an interesting poem on many levels. Firstly, it adapts the form of the long poem - usually reserved for epic or works that strove to imitate the classics - to the topic of contemporary (for the 1850s at least) life, which was at the time a groundbreaking concept. Secondly, it features as its main character Aurora, a strong and independent woman, who fights for her right to write and be considered a peer to the other male poets.
The first two books start somewhat slow, but the pace quickens as the story goes on, becoming more and more interesting for the modern reader. The abundance of explanatory notes in this particular edition (cured by Kerry McSweeney) aids further in understanding all the texts and phenomena that Elizabeth Barrett Browning cited throughout the whole poem.
And I who have written much in prose and verse
For others' uses, will write now for mine-
Will write my story for my better self
As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is."
Although fairly difficult to read and understand for a non-native speaker of English as myself, Aurora Leigh is an interesting poem on many levels. Firstly, it adapts the form of the long poem - usually reserved for epic or works that strove to imitate the classics - to the topic of contemporary (for the 1850s at least) life, which was at the time a groundbreaking concept. Secondly, it features as its main character Aurora, a strong and independent woman, who fights for her right to write and be considered a peer to the other male poets.
The first two books start somewhat slow, but the pace quickens as the story goes on, becoming more and more interesting for the modern reader. The abundance of explanatory notes in this particular edition (cured by Kerry McSweeney) aids further in understanding all the texts and phenomena that Elizabeth Barrett Browning cited throughout the whole poem.
bartlebybleaney's review against another edition
3.0
The best part were the sections discoursing on aesthetics. The most boring parts were the conversations and the unreadable parentheses in already-longish bits of dialogue.
eheslosz's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This was at times wonderful and compelling and a page-turner, and also at other times extremely slow and tedious and unexciting. EBB has some wonderful poetic moments; so many quotes and passages of blank verse that I would happily learn by heart and have stored in me forever. I particularly loved Book Five where Aurora is philosophising about writing and art and the role of the poet and the woman poet. Also the way she illustrates the beauty of Italy and compares it to England, and the way she talks about reading and writing is always exquisite.
Sometimes I struggled to follow the plot (and there is actually quite a lot of plot, and dialogue, and this didn’t interest me as much as the philosophising) because I would read ‘Aurora Leigh’ closely the way I always read poetry, soaking up the language and the sounds. But this is not just poetry, it’s a verse novel, and there is plot to follow. I loved Marian Erle, but didn’t care much for Romney Leigh and how all relationships seem to circle around him. Then again, this is subverted quite interestingly towards the end – but no more, no spoilers!
Still, what EBB did with the form is so impressive. From her letters (included in this Norton Critical Edition) I could tell that she had come up with the concept of the form of ‘Aurora Leigh’ before its plot. She uses the epic poem form but makes the story modern, female and domestic, not a grand masculine battle narrative. This is satisfyingly relevant to the “philosophising”, as I now call it, of Aurora about poetry in Book Five, as she argues that poets’ ‘sole work is to represent the age,/Their age, not Charlemagne’s, – this live, throbbing age,/That brawls, cheats, maddens, calculates, aspires,/And spends more passion, more heroic heat,/Betwixt the mirrors of its drawing rooms,/Than Roland with his knights at Roncesvalles.’ Apparently this is an attack at Tennyson? Haven’t read into it myself.
The inner life of women is properly explored, in all its elevated moments (Aurora Leigh as an artist and spiritual being) but also the gritty domesticity and disturbing abuse experienced by lower class women (Marian Erle, whose name is an indicative pun: marry an Earle). Arguably EBB is condescending and privileged in that regard. Virginia Woolf has an interesting take on this in ‘Flush’, which is a comic retelling of EBB losing her dog (Flush) to Victorian dog-nappers in the slums of London, demanding a ransom for the pets of ladies.
I also really enjoyed the metaphysical aspect of ‘Aurora Leigh’: the eponymous protagonist is the narrator of the novel, and starts with much self-awareness (‘I, writing thus…’) in a wonderful empowering way, but ALSO the fictional Aurora Leigh is a poet who writes an autobiographical verse novel about herself called “Aurora Leigh”. Confusing, yes. And kind of funny that EBB gives the fictional Aurora a popular readership and fans whose letters she responds to etc, almost as if manifesting her own success with this book!
Next long verse text I want to read is ‘Paradise Lost’, which will be difficult but I’m looking forward to it, and I think it will be interesting to read alongside ‘Middlemarch’, which I will probably have on the go for a good while.
marybo01's review against another edition
Did not manage to finish before moving onto next book on course. Was okay for poetry.
zoeqs's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
audrey_nester's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the beautiful imagery of nature that Browning wrote to help carry along the story.
mtreads's review against another edition
5.0
a MONSTER to get through. i hated it. but the ending made me realize why i needed to read this. poetry matters, man. im very mind blown rn and will def read this again later on. left the page with a sense of conviction.
also, very quotable! there’s a twitter bio or yearbook quote for u in there somewhere.
also, very quotable! there’s a twitter bio or yearbook quote for u in there somewhere.
bregger99's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0