Religion and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

            The reviews from The Guardian is stating the fact that Elizabeth Barrett Browning has made the speaker so religiously forward and shares this religious outlook with the audience. However, the reviewer is pointing out the fact that the audience cannot get their own religious views mixed up with what the speaker is portraying. These discussions that take place during this religious debate are very original according to the reviewer. The way that the reviewer points out the importance of not getting lost in what the speaker is trying to portray and what the audience should actually feel shows the way that literature can manipulate readers. The audience must be able to draw their own conclusions and make their own assumptions.

            The review by Samuel B. Holcombe is a rave of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s style and art of writing as a whole. The comparisons that Holcombe makes between Elizabeth and famous writers such as Shakespeare and Tenyson show the true admiration that Holcombe had for her writing. He loves the balance and knowledge that she shows with religion, but is still able to demonstrate her poetic fashion. This shows the new innovation that Elizabeth’s writing is able to bring to the literature world. The fact that Holconbe is making Elizabeth, a woman writer, such an importance shows the new impact that has been made on writing. Giving a woman writer at this time this role is a new breakthrough for the literature world.

            When Hannah Lawrance reviews the work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning she focuses on the images and vividness that is being so clearly drawn out through the poetry. She even says that Elizabeth is “bringing to life the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.” This bringing to life aspect is helpful when thinking about Elizabeth’s style because it shows the depth and development that she uses to relate an audience to her work. The art of her changing the meaning of the Virgin Mary to show more agony and pain is different and helps deliver a whole new meaning to religious beliefs. Elizabeth is very talented in making religious context fit into the original way of perceiving Christianity; however, she very beautifully adds a new twist to allow the audience to ponder new ideas of the practices.