Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on 6 March 1806. Browning was the first of her family in two centuries to be born in England as her ancestors were Creole and lived in Jamaica where they owned sugar plantations that were known for using forced slave labor (Poets.Org). Browning was the oldest of twelve children which may be part of why she felt compelled to write about child labor conditions in England. She once said about her childhood, “Books and dreams were what I lived in and domestic life only seemed to buzz gently around, like bees about the grass,” (Poetry Foundation). Barrett Browning found herself living in a world of creativity and freedom. Unlike her siblings, she did not find the tediousness of “domestic life” to be satisfactory, instead, she found exploring the human condition to be a more valuable use of her time. Many of her pieces addressed social issues like: “the oppression of the Italians by the Austrians, the child labor mines and mills of England, and slavery, among other social injustices,”. (“Elizabeth”). Given her family background in owning slaves, her siblings being expected to work on the family plantation, and her residency in Italy, she was in the position to offer her first-hand experiences and opinions. Her passion for social change was admired by some, hated by others, but known by many. This included Elizabeth’s husband Robert Browning who first was an admirer of her work and world views but then became an admirer of Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth and Robert corresponded through letters for about two years before they eventually were married in 1846. As we discussed in class many people left the dreary U.K. for the warmth and culture of Italy, which was exactly what Elizabeth and Robert did once they were married. Interestingly Elizabeth’s skill and recognition outshone her husbands, and her work reached a wider audience. Specifically, Emily Dickinson had a portrait of Elizabeth in her bedroom and eventually after Wordsworth’s death she was a candidate for the title of “poet laureate”.