Prostitute rescue, rape, and poetic inspiration in Elizabeth Barrett browning's aurora leigh

Abstract

In Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barrett Browning portrays a poet who attempts to reorganize society radically solely by inspiring her readers. At the end of the narrative, however, we are left wondering what a world reformed by poetry would look like. What would a Barrett-Browning-esque Utopia be? Barrett Browning refuses to answer this question directly, with one notable exception. The social concern whose remedy she most consistently weaves into her narrative is the elimination of sexual violence, addressed through discussions of rape and prostitution. In this article, the author explores the Greek myths of rape that Aurora uses as metaphors for her own poetic inspiration. Aurora's revision of these myths is completed by her quest to “rescue” Marian (who she presumes is a prostitute) from the streets of Paris, and by her confrontation with and acceptance of Marian's rape.