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4 - Love by Post

Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning

from Part II - Private Lives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2022

Michael Wheeler
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
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Summary

The private letters exchanged between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett provide a dramatic contrast to the open letters discussed in Part I, the tone of which tends to reflect the robust nature of the political debates associated with three public scandals. The confidential letters exchanged between two highly gifted and sensitive poets explore themes, such as liminality, and contain symbols, such as those of sight and blindness, of a kind that also features in their poetry. These letters are intimate, focused and exclusive, gradually relaxing in style as mutual trust grows between the lovers and a long series of nuanced exchanges establishes a private set of shared associations and references. All this is made possible through the security of the uniform penny post that was so fiercely defended during the Mazzini scandal. References to the mechanics of letter writing, descriptions of the rooms in which the writers sit and references to delays in the delivery of letters ground the correspondence in the material culture of the day, enhancing a sense of immediacy and sometimes of synchrony.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age
Lives, Loves and Letters of 1845
, pp. 113 - 148
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Love by Post
  • Michael Wheeler, University of Southampton
  • Book: The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age
  • Online publication: 08 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268868.008
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  • Love by Post
  • Michael Wheeler, University of Southampton
  • Book: The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age
  • Online publication: 08 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268868.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Love by Post
  • Michael Wheeler, University of Southampton
  • Book: The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age
  • Online publication: 08 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268868.008
Available formats
×