Elizabeth Barrett and Shelley

Abstract

The three sections that make up this chapter trace Shelleyan resonance/influence in Elizabeth Barrett’s writings, from her early works to her later poem, Casa Guidi Windows. Section One focuses on Barrett’s The Battle of Marathon, Prometheus Bound and The Seraphim. In Section Two, a comparison between Shelley’s “The Triumph of Life” and Barrett’s “A Vision of Poets” is undertaken. One can read Barrett’s “Vision” as a corrective to Shelley’s pessimism concerning the role of poets as they figure in his last poem. Section Three examines Casa Guidi Windows, as it utilizes some Shelleyan ideas and motifs, which derive largely from his Defence of Poetry. The chapter argues that Barrett’s use of the seasonal trope, as dramatized in Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’, deserves further attention. Finally, in order to provide a reading that deviates from the conventional interpretation, Isobel Armstrong’s formulation of the ‘radical aesthetic’ is deployed.