"An island of nymphs" : Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Victorian women's classical education

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to frame Elizabeth Barrett Browning as one of the catalysts in favor of tertiary education for women in Victorian England. By examining her poems and activism relating to classical studies, as well as her relationships with Hugh Stuart Boyd, Robert Browning, and Sir Uvedale Price, I argue that it was Barrett Browning's deep ambition and aptitude for classics, particularly for Greek, that led to the wider social acceptance of women scholars of antiquity, and began to shape nineteenth century depictions of Women of (Greek) Letters in life and nymphs in Victorian poetry.