Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Canon Formation, and the North American Literary Curriculum

Abstract

IT is difficult to examine Elizabeth Barrett Browning's place in literary his tory today without also considering Robert Browning s. For many readers, Barrett Browning exists primarily as the author of How do I love thee? Let me count the ways*' and as the real-life heroine of a love story. But while Barrett Browning is transformed from major poet to poetic heroine, Browning is transformed from Mrs. Browning s husband to major poet. His reputation rises as hers falls. Their intertwined literary fates provide an interesting case study in the process of canon formation, particularly the role that literary cur ricula can play. For despite that fact that Elizabeth Barrett Browning enjoyed a greater poetic reputation during their lifetime, even being mentioned by the Athenaeum as a possible Poet Laureate in 1851, she almost disappeared from the canon during the early years of the twentieth century. Marj or ie Stone's key questions continue to resonate: How, when, and where was England's first major woman poet erased from literary history? Who buried her and why? (195). This paper examines some of the circumstances surrounding this shift of poetic value by exploring one humble arena of canon formation: the North American high school classroom in the early twentieth century I focus on the high school program leading to university and teaching or normal school matriculation in the early twentieth century because many more students were exposed to literature in high school than in university level classes. Although the high school curriculum was heavily influenced by the demands of college preparation, it also had the broader goal of social skills development (Hays 104). The 1917 report of a national committee on the place of English in secondary schools in the United States identified the main aims of the English courses as communication (speech and writing) and reading thoughtfully, with appreciation and taste for good books (Hays 90). One aim, then, was canon recognition and acceptance. In the case of those students who went on to teach college or normal school, this high school exposure to litera ture provided a model that they could transmit to their own students. As such, the high school classroom provided a rich ground for canon formation, and scholastic editions both shape and are shaped by literary history. The editors of these scholastic editions try to aid the high school teacher and influence future teachers in the pedagogical apparatus and prefaces provided. In this