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Year 11
AQA

The poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning and Victorian values

I can explain how the Brownings' poems subvert typical Victorian values.

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Year 11
AQA

The poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning and Victorian values

I can explain how the Brownings' poems subvert typical Victorian values.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Victorian society viewed women as passive and confined them to domestic roles.
  2. Victorian society had a stigma surrounding sexual freedom and liberation.
  3. The Brownings were a couple whose marriage challenged Victorian attitudes towards love and relationships.
  4. Both 'Sonnet 29' and 'Porphyria's Lover' challenge typical attitudes of the Victorian era towards love and marriage.

Keywords

  • Subvert - to undermine or weaken the power of something, especially an established system

  • Elope - to secretly run away and get married, often without the consent of parents or family

  • Propriety - conformity to accepted standards of behaviour or morals; correctness in social conduct

  • Submissive - willing to conform to the authority or will of others; behaving in a way that follows accepted standards

  • Victorian era - the historical period in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901

Common misconception

Knowing that the Brownings were married to each other is an important piece of contextual information.

Although it is relevant to know they were married, it is in linking their own unconventional marriage to the subversive presentation of love and relationships in their poems that the best contextual points can be found.


To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: The poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning and Victorian values, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Both of these poets wrote poems that challenged and subverted typical notions of love for a Victorian audience. It may be useful to compare their work with a poem that more typically presents love, at least for a Victorian audience (e.g. 'Love's Philosophy').
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the AQA 'Love and Relationships' anthology for this lesson.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sexual violence
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning were ...
Correct answer: husband and wife.
brother and sister.
father and daughter.
mother and son.
Q2.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning wrote most of their poetry in the __________ era.
Correct answer: Victorian
Georgian
Elizabethan
Jacobean
Q3.
Following Barrett Browning's courtship with poet Robert Browning, the couple married and eloped to Italy. What were the consequences of this for Barrett Browning?
The sun made her ill and unhappy.
She and Browning divorced shortly after.
She was forced to return after her father died.
The language barrier made it difficult for her to write poetry.
Correct answer: She was disowned by her father.
Q4.
'Sonnet 29 - I think of thee!' was taken from a collection of poems entitled 'Sonnets from the __________'.
French
Spanish
Correct answer: Portuguese
German
Italian
Q5.
Which of the below are major themes in the poem 'Porphyria's Lover'?
Correct answer: madness
Correct answer: power and control
Correct answer: love and obsession
loneliness
identity
Q6.
In 'Porphyria's Lover', what could be seen as a symbol of Porphyria's sexuality?
Correct Answer: hair, her hair, her yellow hair, yellow hair

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What verb is being described here: 'to undermine or weaken the power of something, especially an established system'?
Correct Answer: subvert, to subvert, subversion
Q2.
If you run away in secret to get married then you have ...
Correct answer: eloped.
fled.
submitted.
escaped.
Q3.
Which of the following were typical of the Victorian era?
Correct answer: rigid gender roles
Correct answer: strong emphasis on morality and propriety
Correct answer: women were expected to be submissive
equality between the sexes
sexual freedom
Q4.
Why was the marriage between the Brownings unconventional by Victorian standards?
Elizabeth was six years older than Robert
Correct answer: they eloped
Correct answer: their marriage was one of artistic and intellectual equality
they were from different social classes
Correct answer: Elizabeth's prolific writing challenged the notion of women as submissive
Q5.
'Sonnet 29' challenges Victorian attitudes by openly expressing a woman's emotional and romantic longing, demonstrating intellectual in a relationship.
Correct answer: equality
weakness
passiveness
dominance
Q6.
In 'Sonnet 29' Browning uses the metaphor of a 'wild vine' to describe her love. Why would this have challenged typical Victorian attitudes towards women and love?
Correct answer: It portrays love as unrestrained - challenging Victorian propriety.
A vine is a weed - it suggests women's love should be removed.
'Wild vines' don't grow in gardens - only men should demonstrate physical love.