Synopses & Reviews
In 1846 Elizabeth Barrett rose from an invalid's bed to elope to Italy with Robert Browning. The secret courtship of the two poets--their long correspondence and their meetings in the shadow of Elizabeth's despotic and jealous father--has become one of the most famous and best-documented Victorian romances.
The powerful myth of chivalrous rescue and miraculous recovery is the subject of Daniel Karlin's exciting and imaginative book. He gives a fresh account of the events of the courtship, based on a much closer study of the love letters than has been attempted before; and he shows how significant these letters are for an interpretation of the work of both poets.
Review
"Daniel Karlin makes expert use of the many letters that passed between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett both before their first meeting on May 20, 1845, and during the months that followed until their marriage on Sept.12, 1846, and departure for Italy on September 19. In Part One he sets the scene, describes the background, works through First Letters, First Meeting, Secret Lovers, Marriage and
Elopement. In Part Two he writes of The Poetry of Love, Letters and Meetings, Other People, Mr. Barrett, and Elizabeth Barrett's Return, ending with her Sonnets from the Portuguese, which are also letters to Browning. This is a more than interesting account of the development of love, though sometimes a little confusing in its weavings back and forth." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Review
"This book is a fascinating, witty and most intelligent account of one of the greatest Victorian romances of literary history as seen through these letters." --Cape Argus
"a correspondence virtually unique in literature"--Irish Times
"Throughout, Karlin provides stimulating insights to the self-dividedness of Browning's speakers and, more disturbingly, Browning himself... As a biographer, editor, and critic of Browing, aniel Karlin writes with rare authority, scholarship, and critical acumen. Piping hot with freshness and originality, his analyses of the poetry never fail to illuminate the texts from the inside out. Much of the persuasiveness of Karlin's criticism arises from his integrating it stylishly and sensitively with quotations from Browning's letters, and his book is an excellent example not only of how scholarly editions of letters can be used as tools for criticisms but also of how the best criticism arises, so often, from documentary sources."--MLR 91:1
About the Author
Daniel Carlin is Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature, University College, London