Two-Way Mirror: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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- Create Date：2021-08-19 05:19:06
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Fiona Sampson
- ISBN：1324002956
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Summary
"How do I love thee？ Let me count the ways。" With these words， Elizabeth Barrett Browning has come down to us as a romantic heroine， a recluse controlled by a domineering father and often overshadowed by her husband， Robert Browning。 But behind the melodrama lies a thoroughly modern figure whose extraordinary life is an electrifying study in self-invention。
Born in 1806， Barrett Browning lived in an age when women could not attend a university， own property after marriage， or vote。 And yet she seized control of her private income， defied chronic illness and disability， became an advocate for the revolutionary Italy to which she eloped， and changed the course of cultural history。 Her late-in-life verse novel masterpiece， Aurora Leigh， reveals both the brilliance and originality of her mind， as well as the challenges of being a woman writer in the Victorian era。 A feminist icon， high-profile activist for the abolition of slavery， and international literary superstar， Barrett Browning inspired writers as diverse as Emily Dickinson， George Eliot， Rudyard Kipling， Oscar Wilde， and Virginia Woolf。
Two-Way Mirror is the first biography of Barrett Browning in more than three decades。 With unique access to the poet’s abundant correspondence， “astute， thoughtful， and wide-ranging guide” （Times [UK]） Fiona Sampson holds up a mirror to the woman， her art， and the art of biography itself。
Born in 1806， Barrett Browning lived in an age when women could not attend a university， own property after marriage， or vote。 And yet she seized control of her private income， defied chronic illness and disability， became an advocate for the revolutionary Italy to which she eloped， and changed the course of cultural history。 Her late-in-life verse novel masterpiece， Aurora Leigh， reveals both the brilliance and originality of her mind， as well as the challenges of being a woman writer in the Victorian era。 A feminist icon， high-profile activist for the abolition of slavery， and international literary superstar， Barrett Browning inspired writers as diverse as Emily Dickinson， George Eliot， Rudyard Kipling， Oscar Wilde， and Virginia Woolf。
Two-Way Mirror is the first biography of Barrett Browning in more than three decades。 With unique access to the poet’s abundant correspondence， “astute， thoughtful， and wide-ranging guide” （Times [UK]） Fiona Sampson holds up a mirror to the woman， her art， and the art of biography itself。
Reviews
Clíodhna Walsh
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Someone in my writing group suggested writing reviews of all the books I read， which I do not care to do， but I have a bad habit of following advice。 This book， being very readable， is a good place to start。 Sampson's self-described 'portrait' of Barrett Browning is a thoughtful piece of writing and research， always clear-eyed yet enthusiastic about its subject。 Tackling EBB's politics， a slave-owner's daughter turned abolitionist， Garibaldi supporter yet scorner of Charles Fourier and socialism Someone in my writing group suggested writing reviews of all the books I read， which I do not care to do， but I have a bad habit of following advice。 This book， being very readable， is a good place to start。 Sampson's self-described 'portrait' of Barrett Browning is a thoughtful piece of writing and research， always clear-eyed yet enthusiastic about its subject。 Tackling EBB's politics， a slave-owner's daughter turned abolitionist， Garibaldi supporter yet scorner of Charles Fourier and socialism， Sampson does a remarkably astute job。 And it's a good story - a page turner when it comes to EBB's escape from her own father。 Yet biography is a genre I dislike， and this one suffers from its worst impulses。 Sampson wants to rescue EBB's poetic legacy from the romance of her life as a poorly invalid and eloping lover， so， in some kind of comparative， autofictive turn， she frames this biography with chapters of personal digressions and ruminations upon photography and portraiture， when， simply， more historical context would have sufficed。 I wanted to know more about the society that EBB was a part of， but this book is the tale of one grand life， a hero rising against the odds， so there is not much historicising here。 This is a pity。 The Victorians themselves never skimped on the details。 And it smacks a bit of English over-confidence that everyone else will know their history。 Needs more poems too。 。。。more
Rebecca
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Coming in at under 260 pages， this isn’t your standard comprehensive biography。 Sampson instead describes it as a “portrait，” one that takes up the structure of EBB’s nine-book epic poem， Aurora Leigh， and is concerned with themes of identity and the framing of stories。 Elizabeth， as she is cosily called throughout the book， wrote poems that lend themselves to autobiographical interpretation – “her body of work creates a kind of looking glass in which， dimly， we make out the person who wrote it， Coming in at under 260 pages， this isn’t your standard comprehensive biography。 Sampson instead describes it as a “portrait，” one that takes up the structure of EBB’s nine-book epic poem， Aurora Leigh， and is concerned with themes of identity and the framing of stories。 Elizabeth， as she is cosily called throughout the book， wrote poems that lend themselves to autobiographical interpretation – “her body of work creates a kind of looking glass in which， dimly， we make out the person who wrote it，” Sampson asserts。Nicknamed “Ba，” Elizabeth was born in 1806 and brought up with 11 younger siblings at a Herefordshire estate， Hope End。 Her father， Edward， had been born in Jamaica and the family fortune was based on sugar – and slavery。 Sampson makes much of this inherited guilt， and also places an emphasis on EBB’s lifelong ill health， which involved headaches， back and side pain， and depression。 She also suffered from respiratory complaints。 The modern medically minded reader tries to come up with a concrete diagnosis。 Tardive dystonia？ Post-viral syndrome？ The author offers many potential explanations， and notes that her subject was the very type of the Victorian female invalid。 She would also suffer from miscarriages， but had one son， Pen。 The Brownings were in the unusual position of the wife being the more famous partner。Sampson draws heavily on correspondence and earnestly interrogates scenes and remembrances， but her use of the present tense is a bit odd for a historical narrative， and I found my casual curiosity about the Brownings wasn’t enough to sustain my interest。 However， this did make me eager to try more of EBB’s poetry。 I even dug out my copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese from a box in the States the other week。Favourite lines:“Within the continual process of reputation-making and remaking that is literary history， Elizabeth Barrett Browning remains a bellwether for the rising and sinking stock of women writers。 … Elizabeth dramatizes the two-way creation of every writing self， from without and from within。 That the life of the body both enables and limits the life of the mind is the paradox of the thinking self。”Originally published on my blog， Bookish Beck。 。。。more
Jacquie
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I was lucky enough to get a proof copy of this book because Fiona is a guest at Suffolk Book League in March。 I knew nothing about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the woman is fascinating。 This biography very overtly tackles the question of what made someone who rarely left her room yet traveled widely in Europe， into a poet who broke through so many of the boundaries put on women。 She tackles the thorny issue of abolitionists who rely on income from the sugar trade。 What makes this such a specia I was lucky enough to get a proof copy of this book because Fiona is a guest at Suffolk Book League in March。 I knew nothing about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the woman is fascinating。 This biography very overtly tackles the question of what made someone who rarely left her room yet traveled widely in Europe， into a poet who broke through so many of the boundaries put on women。 She tackles the thorny issue of abolitionists who rely on income from the sugar trade。 What makes this such a special read is that between chapters there are 'frames'， short essays about ways of seeing which are reflections on biography and image。 By drawing our attention to the way her image was managed in the few pictures we still have of her， and the parallels with how images are managed on social media she makes Elizabeth， who was born in 1806， nine years after Mary Shelley and ten yours before Charlotte Bronte a contempory subject。 。。。more
Rachel
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