Sonnet 6 (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Elizabeth Barrett Moulton
- First Published: 1850
- Type of Work: Sonnet
- Genres: Poetry, Sonnet
- Subjects: Freedom, Parents and children, Love or romance, Nineteenth century, God, Spiritual life or spirituality, Fathers, Separation, Joy or sorrow, Touch
The Poem
Although the speaker in the poem is not identified as a woman, the poem reads better if one assumes that a woman is speaking. The conflict expressed in the opening two lines gains power if the speaker is seen as a woman fighting for her independence from a man, as well as a lover struggling to be free of her lover’s dominating influence. It also helps to remember that in the background are two real-life lovers: An invalid (Elizabeth Barrett) is writing a series of sonnets to a lover (Robert Browning) whom her tyrannical father has forbidden her to see. This much...
[The entire page is 1506 words long]
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