“THE BRILLIANT, THE DOOMED, THE ADORED ELIZABETH BARRETT”: VIRGINIA WOOLF AND THE MODERNIST REVISION OF VICTORIAN LIVES IN “AURORA LEIGH” AND FLUSH

Abstract

In this thesis, I argue that “Aurora Leigh” (1932) and Flush: A Biography (1933), written by modernist author Virginia Woolf, are innovative biographical representations of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I relate these works to Woolf’s relationship with her Victorian heritage and argue that her exploration of Barrett Browning’s biography constitutes a feminist recovery project. My study investigates Woolf’s modernist reconfiguration of a female Victorian poet by addressing the cultural and historical amnesia surrounding Barrett Browning in the twentieth century. By assessing Woolf’s response toward Victorian culture and the subsequent impact on Barrett Browning’s portrayal in her work, I contribute to an emerging area of scholarship regarding the interrelation of Victorian and modernist literature. Although many modernists participated in a literary movement that was profoundly separate from their Victorian predecessors, I argue that Woolf explored the continuity between these eras through “Aurora Leigh” and Flush. I investigate the relationship between Barrett Browning’s early feminism and Woolf’s views on female authorship, especially as these areas relate to the woman artist in “Aurora Leigh.” Although many scholars remain convinced that Woolf creates canine subjectivity in Flush, I argue that Flush is an anthropomorphic representation of the trapped Victorian poet. By comparing the 1931 draft of Flush to the published version, I determine that Woolf initially intended to write a feminist biography of Barrett Browning, but later shifted to an autobiografictional mode after the passing of Lytton Strachey. Woolf blends biography, autobiography, and fiction in Flush, and I argue that this method deconstructs the biographical genre by including her own authorial voice alongside the voice of a neglected historical woman. Despite her revitalization of Barrett Browning’s biography, Woolf is limited by her Victorian past. While she does reclaim the poet for her modernist audience, “Aurora Leigh” and Flush reveal the need for a much larger, more detailed recovery of Barrett Browning’s life and works.