Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. “From Aurora Leigh, First Book by Elizabeth...” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/145567/aurora-leigh-book-1. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.
Gerturde's entry
I truly do just love this passage. I feel as if it encompassases my own life, and I can draw courage from it, as the narrator will not give up, so nor will I. I found this book at the local library in the poetry section a few weeks before father died. Soon after he died, I read this passage and it rekindled my passion to make something of my life, instead of pitying myself for my new situation. This passage comes from a book called Aurora Leigh, which I found is very relatable to my own situation. This book follows the life of a girl similar to myself who loses her father and is forced into a completely different life. Its ideas inspired me to follow my passions rather than a comfortable life, like Aurora, and it gave me the inspiration to start a business. This book also pushed me into the world of poetry. I enjoyed the ideas and the structure of Aurora Leigh so much that all I began to read were poems! Throughout my teenage years I read poetry and I began to write it as well. My sisters tell me that I should write poetry for the public, however I am much too ashamed of my writing to make it public, and I believe that writing poetry is just a hobby of mine, like art is to others. Plus, I am very passionate about the photography studio at the moment, and I hope that it will give me and my sisters a chance at making a decent life for ourselves if we choose not to marry.
Historian's entry
It seems as if the narrator Gertrude is very inspired by the epic poem "Aurora Leigh". "Aurora Leigh" is an epic poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a well-coveted author who pushed for reform in many aspects of society, including women's rights (Poetry Foundation). The poem tells the story of a young woman named Aurora Leigh, who is also thrust into a completely different life due to the death of her father. During the Victorian era, societal norms and expectations were rigid, particularly for women, but Aurora was symbolized as a resistance to these expectations, who, for example, rejects marriage from a wealthy man to pursue her own career. As Gertrude mentioned, this poem changed her perspective on life, and gave her ideas of following her passion rather than be traditional and comfortable. Literature had similar effects on other women, mainly in the New Woman ideals aimed at housewives and other traditional women. Walls' statement supports this, as she states, "By exploring the possibility of enacting change within the domestic space, New Women novels generated a rhetoric of resistance within Victorian society that promoted change" (Walls, 230), further arguing that literature was produced during the Victorian era to illustrate feminine characters in novels resisting societal norms, which promoted change in society. Gertrude serves as a principal example, as she mentions that this poem, which promotes the New Woman, inspired her to start a business and change her life. Finally, Gertrude's entry reveals the changing culture in Victorian England as a consequence of New Women literature, where societal beliefs slowly started shifting from traditional beliefs to more modern beliefs. Her shift to become a business owner exemplifies the effect literature had on women throughout the Victorian era, and its importance in pushing for change for women in England.
“Elizabeth Barrett Browning.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elizabeth-barrett-browning. Accessed 8 Oct. 2023.
Walls, Elizabeth MacLeod. “‘A Little Afraid of the Women of Today’: The Victorian New Woman and the Rhetoric of British Modernism.” Rhetoric Review, vol. 21, no. 3, 2002, pp. 229–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3093009. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.