Aurora Leigh

Written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and first published in 1856 at the height of the Romantic Movement, Aurora Leigh is a narrative novel in blank verse that divided critics by challenging the standard positions within contemporary debates regarding class and gender. Standing at nine books and 11,000 lines, it is the first feature-length poem in English that places a female artist at the center of the plot, and as such, it catapulted its equally atypical female author to near-poet laureate status and allowed her to achieve transatlantic fame during a time in which misogynist views were the norm. By simultaneously tapping into and subverting the 19th-century zeitgeist, Aurora Leigh critiques subjects such as social class, the Industrial Revolution, aesthetics, and religion, redefining the accepted social constructs of 19th-century British society from a decidedly feminist point of view. It was in part due to this singularity of form and content that Aurora Leigh was heralded by the eminent critic John Ruskin as “the greatest poem in the English language.” 

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include references to commercial sexual exploitation, as well as discussions of rape.

Plot Summary

Aurora Leigh is written in blank verse and takes place over the course of nine books. The first book opens with a description of the Florentine childhood of the protagonist, Aurora Leigh. Her mother dies when she is four, and before the death of Aurora’s English father nine years later, he instills a love for literature in his daughter. After his death, she is sent to England to live with her aunt at the family homestead of Leigh Hall where her aspirations to become a writer prevail over the strict household rules and stereotypical woman’s education that her aunt insists on providing her.

The second book begins on Aurora’s 20th birthday and focuses on how she navigates a marriage proposal from her cousin, Romney Leigh. A self-proclaimed philanthropist, Romney tries to dissuade Aurora from writing by asserting that women’s artistic abilities are inferior to those of men. Aurora retorts that Romney is too preoccupied with social work to be a suitable husband and rejects him. Aurora’s aunt reminds her that she will inherit nothing if she fails to marry Romney, but Aurora is not dissuaded from her course of action. After Aurora’s aunt dies, Romney offers her a share of the inheritance, which she rejects. Instead, she moves to London and successfully pursues her aspirations to become a poet. 

At the opening of Book 3, Aurora is living in an apartment in London and has earned some poetic renown, although she remains unsatisfied with her authorial success to date. One day, she receives a visit from Lady Waldemar, who asks Aurora to help her dissuade Romney from marrying a woman named Marian Erle, whom he has met through his social work. Unimpressed with Lady Waldemar, Aurora dismisses her request and sends the woman on her way. She then visits Marian and learns the story of her difficult upbringing, which includes evading  sexual exploitation and trafficking. 

In Book 4, Aurora gives her blessing to Romney and Marian’s decision to marry. After the cousins talk, however, Aurora begins to realize that she has feelings for Romney. Meanwhile, Marian leaves Romney at the altar and apologizes in a letter in which she claims that she is not worthy of him. Romney and Aurora also discuss their struggles with social work and art.

In Book 5, Aurora continues to be creatively frustrated and longs to find genuine inspiration and love. It has been almost two years since she saw Romney, but she hears news of him at a party and learns that Romney has transformed Leigh Hall into a house for people in need in the community. He is also now engaged to Lady Waldemar. Questioning whether Romney could have truly loved either her or Marian, Aurora departs for Italy.

Pausing in Paris at the opening of Book 6, Aurora chances upon Marian Erle, who now has a child. Rather than becoming pregnant by her own choice, however, Marian’s child was conceived when Marian was raped. Marian tells Aurora that Lady Waldemar made her believe that Romney didn’t truly love her. Lady Waldemar’s maid then accompanied Marian to France and engaged in human trafficking, forcing Marian into a situation in which she was compelled to provide sexual services for payment. Marian was assaulted and raped before escaping this untenable situation.

Marian continues her tale in Book 7, which concludes with the birth of her son, whom she loves dearly despite the circumstances surrounding his birth. Marian, her child, and Aurora depart together for Italy, and Aurora writes an angry letter to Lady Waldemar but says nothing to Romney, whom she believes to be happy with his current marital arrangements. Aurora feels lonely while in Italy and reminisces about Romney and about her own childhood experiences in Italy. 

At the opening of Book 8, some years have elapsed, and Aurora, Marian, and Marian’s son are now living outside Florence. Romney arrives suddenly and compliments Aurora on her book. Believing him to have married Lady Waldemar, Aurora behaves curtly toward him. Romney tells Aurora that his social work has failed and that Leigh Hall has been burned to the ground by an angry mob. Romney laughingly reveals that he did not marry Lady Waldemar and hands Aurora a letter that Lady Waldemar wrote. 

In the final book, the contents of Lady Waldemar’s letter are revealed. She defends herself for her previous actions by claiming that she never intended to harm Marian and that she realized that Romney loves Aurora instead. Dutifully, Romney now offers to marry Marian, but she rejects him by saying that she only loves her child. Romney and Aurora forgive each other for past misunderstandings, and Romney reveals that he is blind. He and Aurora profess their love for each other, and the poem concludes with a celestial vision of a new age.