Starter quiz
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning were ...
- husband and wife. ✓
- brother and sister.
- father and daughter.
- mother and son.
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- Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning wrote most of their poetry in the __________ era.
- Victorian ✓
- Georgian
- Elizabethan
- Jacobean
-
- Following Barrett Browning's courtship with poet Robert Browning, the couple married and eloped to Italy. What were the consequences of this for Barrett Browning?
- The sun made her ill and unhappy.
- She and Browning divorced shortly after.
- She was forced to return after her father died.
- The language barrier made it difficult for her to write poetry.
- She was disowned by her father. ✓
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- 'Sonnet 29 - I think of thee!' was taken from a collection of poems entitled 'Sonnets from the __________'.
- French
- Spanish
- Portuguese ✓
- German
- Italian
-
- Which of the below are major themes in the poem 'Porphyria's Lover'?
- madness ✓
- power and control ✓
- love and obsession ✓
- loneliness
- identity
-
- In 'Porphyria's Lover', what could be seen as a symbol of Porphyria's sexuality?
- 'hair' ✓
Exit quiz
- What verb is being described here: 'to undermine or weaken the power of something, especially an established system'?
- 'subvert' ✓
- If you run away in secret to get married then you have ...
- eloped. ✓
- fled.
- submitted.
- escaped.
-
- Which of the following were typical of the Victorian era?
- rigid gender roles ✓
- strong emphasis on morality and propriety ✓
- women were expected to be submissive ✓
- equality between the sexes
- sexual freedom
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- Why was the marriage between the Brownings unconventional by Victorian standards?
- Elizabeth was six years older than Robert
- they eloped ✓
- their marriage was one of artistic and intellectual equality ✓
- they were from different social classes
- Elizabeth's prolific writing challenged the notion of women as submissive ✓
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- 'Sonnet 29' challenges Victorian attitudes by openly expressing a woman's emotional and romantic longing, demonstrating intellectual ______ in a relationship.
- equality ✓
- weakness
- passiveness
- dominance
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- In 'Sonnet 29' Browning uses the metaphor of a 'wild vine' to describe her love. Why would this have challenged typical Victorian attitudes towards women and love?
- It portrays love as unrestrained - challenging Victorian propriety. ✓
- A vine is a weed - it suggests women's love should be removed.
- 'Wild vines' don't grow in gardens - only men should demonstrate physical love.
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Victorian society viewed women as passive and confined them to domestic roles.
- Victorian society had a stigma surrounding sexual freedom and liberation.
- The Brownings were a couple whose marriage challenged Victorian attitudes towards love and relationships.
- Both 'Sonnet 29' and 'Porphyria's Lover' challenge typical attitudes of the Victorian era towards love and marriage.
Common misconception
Knowing that the Brownings were married to each other is an important piece of contextual information.
Although it is relevant to know they were married, it is in linking their own unconventional marriage to the subversive presentation of love and relationships in their poems that the best contextual points can be found.
Keywords
Subvert - to undermine or weaken the power of something, especially an established system
Elope - to secretly run away and get married, often without the consent of parents or family
Propriety - conformity to accepted standards of behaviour or morals; correctness in social conduct
Submissive - willing to conform to the authority or will of others; behaving in a way that follows accepted standards
Victorian era - the historical period in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901