Aurora Leigh

In Book 3, Barrett Browning shifts the discourse of her story somewhat to introduce new elements of ambiguity, for just as Aurora makes concessions to her original poetic ambitions by learning to pen more pragmatic works such as magazine and newspaper articles, she also betrays evidence of romantic sentiments toward the very man whose advances she so adamantly refused only a few years prior. While her own inner musings serve to betray her need to devote time to the more practical aspects of earning a living, thereby putting some of her artistic aspirations on hold, it is her unexpected conversation with Lady Waldemar that serves to reveal deeper undercurrents of her heart that she prefers not to acknowledge. This dynamic becomes apparent upon Lady Waldemar’s first mention of Romney, at which Aurora’s eyes light up and her countenance brightens with sudden interest. Although she immediately denies that her interest is motivated by romantic feelings, the reader is nonetheless meant to interpret the opening sally of this exchange as foreshadowing that the true nature of Aurora’s romantic relationship with Romney has yet to fully develop.

In the meantime, Lady Waldemar’s presence also serves the practical purpose of introducing new plot developments, for she uses various persuasive devices to discredit Marian’s fitness for Romney as a wife, and in a new angle on the dominant theme of Female Identity and Value in the Victorian Era, many of her points hinge upon conventional beliefs in the effects that the choice to marry has upon one’s social class and identity. For example, she tells Aurora, “marry and throw your name / Down to the gutter” (Lines 635-36), but Aurora soon engages in her second major rebuttal in the poem, chiding Lady Waldemar: “Nay–go to the opera! Your love’s curable” (Line 708). Once again, Aurora’s interactions serve as a direct reflection of Barrett Browning’s own critical views on the conventions governing contemporary issues, and in this particular instance, her disdain is leveled at the more restrictive aspects of the British class system and of the institution of marriage.

It is also important to note that the picture of suffering and sickness painted by Barrett Browning in the latter half of Book 3 is designed to lend a sense of poignancy to the plight of Marian and those in her position, thus further illustrating the issue of Social Justice in 19th-Century England. Just as Lady Waldemar’s liberty and privilege are due to a happy accident of arbitrary circumstances that are favorably interpreted by the society that surrounds her, so too is Marian a victim of that same society’s misplaced disdain and contempt for those who occupy “lower” stations in life. Despite the unexpected consideration and care that she receives from the Leighs, Marian remains on the same social stratum throughout her involvement in the poem, proving that the social system in operation is essentially a feudal one in its rigidity and lack of opportunity for any kind of upward mobility.