Elizabeth Barrett, an English poet of the Romantic Movement, was born in 1806 at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. She was the oldest of twelve children born to Mary and Edward Barrett. For centuries, the Barrett family who were part Creole, had lived in Jamaica where they owned sugar plantations and relied on slave labor. Elizabeth’s father Edward chose to raise his family in England, while his fortune grew in Jamaica.

Elizabeth was educated at home and by the time she was ten years old she had read passages from Paradise Lost and a number of Shakespearean plays. She was considered somewhat of a child prodigy. She was highly intelligent, determined and dedicated to becoming a poet. By the time she was twelve years old she had written her first "epic" poem, which consisted of four books of rhyming couplets. Two years later, Elizabeth developed a lung ailment that plagued her for the rest of her life. Doctors began treating her with morphine, which she would take until her death. While saddling a pony when she was fifteen, Elizabeth also suffered a spinal injury. Despite her ailments, her education continued to flourish. Throughout her teenage years, Elizabeth taught h

In “Sonnets from the Portuguese” Browning declares her strong emotions of love toward Robert Browning. This poem led to the marriage of Elizabeth Barrett to Robert Browning. Leighton describes Elizabeth’s expressions as “fulsome and yet witty energy, which flirts and skirmishes with the inherited convections of the love sonnet.”

Elizabeth's Sonnets from the Portuguese, dedicated to her husband and written in secret before her marriage, was published in 1850. Critics generally consider the Sonnets—one of the most widely known collections of love lyrics in English—to be her best work. Admirers have compared her imagery to Shakespeare and her use of the Italian form to Petrarch.

In 1826, Elizabeth anonymously published her collection An Essay on Mind and Other Poems. Two years later, her mother passed away. The slow abolition of slavery in England and mismanagement of the plantations depleted the Barrett's income, and in 1832, Elizabeth's father sold his rural estate at a public auction. He moved his family to a coastal town and rented cottages for the next three years, before settling permanently in London. While living on the sea coast, Elizabeth published her translation of Prometheus Bound (1833), by the Greek dramatist Aeschylus.

erself Hebrew so that she could read the Old Testament; her interests later turned to Greek studies. Accompanying her appetite for the classics was a passionate enthusiasm for her Christian faith. She became active in the Bible and Missionary Societies of her church.

In 1838, Elizabeth moved to Torquay for her health and was often accompanied by different members, but her favorite was her brother, Edward. He drowned later that year while sailing at Torquay and Elizabeth returned home emotionally broken, beco

Some topics in this essay:
Barrett Browning, Lost Shakespearean, Elizabeth Robert, Mind Poems, Torquay Elizabeth, Guidi Windows”, Edward Barrett, Leigh” Oliphant, Italian Risogimento, Browning Leighton, “aurora leigh”, elizabeth barrett, guidi windows”, “casa guidi, barrett browning, elizabeth barrett browning, robert browning, “casa guidi windows”, translation prometheus bound, moved family, leighton describes, prometheus bound, translation prometheus,