Dared And Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning (Hardcover)

by Julia Markus (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Defying her tyrannical father and in spite of poor health due to lung disease, English poet Elizabeth Barrett married poet-playwright Robert Browning in 1846 after a secret courtship, and they spent the next 15 years in Italy until her death. Elizabeth wrote great love sonnets, the proto-feminist novel in verse, Aurora Leigh, and fiery political poems condemning American slavery or supporting Italian unification. But illness and habitual depression took their toll. Robert, who during their marriage produced his breakthrough book of poems, Men and Women, witnessed the long decline of the great love of his life and he never remarried in 28 years of widowerhood. Markus, a novelist and head of Hofstra University's creative writing department in New York, has written a moving dual biography that peels away the myth and sentiment surrounding this union. She also delves into the Brownings' West Indies background. Pro-abolitionist Elizabeth's great-grandfather was a wealthy slaveholder in Jamaica, and the poet believed she had African blood. Robert's grandmother was Creole with claims to plantations in St. Kitts. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?A charming and well-documented analysis of the courtship and marriage of two well-known English poets, which presents their relationship as reflected in their work. Elizabeth Barrett was a morphine-addicted invalid, totally under the control of her domineering father, when she arranged to secretly meet Robert Browning, whose poems she greatly admired. Mutual infatuation drove the couple together and gave Barrett the strength to defy her father and marry Browning. Quoting heavily from their poetry and Barrett's correspondence, Markus shows the richness that love brought into the couple's life together. Dared and Done will appeal to mature readers of poetry and to those who enjoy romantic biography.?Susan R. Farber, Chappaqua Library, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (January 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679416021
• ISBN-13: 978-0679416029
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #487,252 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book was informative as well as easy to read., June 27, 1999

By A Customer

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dared...and well done, April 15, 2000

By	Lise (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

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!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very nice bio into the life and poetry of immortal lovers, March 7, 2001

By	Thomas Lapins (Orlando, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.