Dared and Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning

Those who recall the Barretts of Wimpole Street may remember a pairing of upper echelon Victorian poets, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, who lived a life together as strange as anything in their poetry. So strange, in fact, as to have rather fallen out of history, as their fashion faded, as if too big or awkward for the flow of it. Today the fame of the Brownings, in life and in verse, is no longer common currency in the popular fancy or other than among specialists, but in their day they were the talk of the town, in London and Florence, at least, and deservedly so. In brief, their story ran like this: She was the London home-bound invalid daughter of a father who, from a Jamaican slave-owning planter family, eccentrically refused to let any of his many offspring marry and bear children, on threat of disinheritance, apparently, it is suggested, because of a suspicion of dark slave-blood in his family tree and a fear of perpetuating it. Her sequestered illness, whatever it may have been, never adequately diagnosed, apparently, left her with nothing worthwhile in her fallow young life but an urge to express her spirit through a marvellous poetic gift, which, magnified by the mystery swirling around her personal life, made her famous enough to attract the infatuated attention of another poet, Robert Browning, who thus fell in love with her at second hand, sought out and courted her in secrecy, won her heart and eloped with her to Italy, where they lived out their marriage safe from her wealthy and powerful father's wrath. In Italy both their love and their poetry flourished, bringing fame, the fellowship of the Euro-American cultural cogniscenti of the age and, eventually, a living, to the pair of them, and in due time a beautiful healthy son to dote upon. Theirs was, in short, a love story for the ages, with perils, pathos and passion enough and to spare. In other words, even in Victorian times, you couldn't have scripted such stuff as this, at least not credibly. Not that life was all lollipops and roses for the Brownings, of course. They lived through all the painful European political disruptions of the Revolution of 1848, and she, as lady poets seem so prodigally inclined to do, died young, in her mid-fifties in 1861, of her mysterious lifelong illness. Widower Robert Browning went back to England after that, trying, unsuccessfully to make a proper Englishman out of their "Italian" son, who expatriated himself back to Italy as soon as his father died. The story is a fascinating one, which this book handles admirably, for all that I am ill qualified to comment much upon either the Brownings or their poetry, he famous mainly for his DRAMATIS PERSONAE and she for her SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGESE and her AURORA LEIGH, a Victorian romance written entirely in iambic pentameter, making it the longest poem in the English language. It was in fact AURORA LEIGH which drew me into a curiosity about the Brownings, merely in the course of doing som

A wonderful biography of a marriage between two genius poets, Dared and Done drew me in with such force and speed that I was almost glad of being ill myself so as to have an excuse to stay in bed and finish it. Markus has managed to convey her own excitement at relating such an intriguing story and did what a good author should do - made me want to delve into these poets' lives and their poetry even more. Some of the speculation I did not agree with such as EBB's father not wanting his children to marry because of possible African blood. The birth of Pen Browning should have eradicated that concern. We may never understand the strange, cruel elder Barrett and fortunately, Dared and Done doesn't hinge on the theory. I did want to know more about the conniving Sophia Eckley - her cause of death for example, since she played such a huge role in the Browning marriage. I was also curious about EBB's illness - oddly, we never do get a diagnosis - only her maintenance cure of morphine and ether.Remarkably, EBB had the greater reputation as a poet during the Barrett-Browning marriage with Robert Browning for many years being considered the lesser poet. That can make for trouble in the most loving of marriages and re-witnessing the devotion these two gifted poets demonstrated repeatedly is both exceptional and inspiring.

The Brownings hold a special place in my world, especially EBB. "Sonnets From The Portuguese" speaks with the eloquence, dignity and passion of the human ideal behind the flaws and veils of life and lovers (both RB and EBB's poetry are available on disc). Especially the last ten sonnets. EBB wrote not only about love and lovers, but about the human condition. She lived an insulated life yet was by nature a worldly and sophisticated soul. RB struggled with his inability to support his family, living off of EBB's inheritance annuity. Through this biography I was better able to appreciate his humaness and struggle, though I am still inclined toward EBB and her poetry. They were the sum of many contradictions, the big one being that they were so English (formal and proper) yet Bohemian in their liberal thinking. Both lovers and artists in the same household, in the same relationship, in the same struggle to survive and create (they do remind me of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's struggle and life together). While the book probably told the whole story, at least as much as a biographer can research and reveal, I still felt something lacking. I wanted the story to go on a little longer, a little deeper. I knew quite a bit about EBB before I began the book, I learned much more about her heritage and conflicts by reading this biography. My appreciation is much greater. It's a shame that we Moderns let so much of our heritage lay dormat (literaturewise) in the vaults of the "old days". To sip and savour the lives and poetry of the past is something we should cherish and celebrate. This book points in that direction. I strongly recommend this to all lovers of RB & EBB and poetry.

I picked up this book out of a desire to learn more about the lives and love of the Brownings. I had merely intended to skan through the pages, expecting yet another boring biography, but I was surprised.Ms. Markus had done a wonderful job in making the characters come to life for me, and she had achieved this without adding a trace of fiction. Her extensive research blended in so well with her writing that I had no trouble following along. In fact, I found it so interesting that I ended up reading the entire book, from beginning to end.I can only hope that the romance of Robert and Elizabeth will forever live through this brilliant biography!

One of the reasons I ordered this book was that I had only seen the film version of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and I had never read any biography of Elizabeth or Robert Browning. I found the book to be informative and readable. It didn't get bogged down with the psychological issues, although there certainly were many involved. The book wasn't stiff and formal, one of the problems I have had with many other biographies. Ms. Markus did an excellent job in following the Brownings through their married life and showing the love and respect they had for each other. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves biographies and who also loves to reach back into the Victorian Era.