Sealed with a Kiss: The Literary Love Affair of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In The Dating Dilemma, businessman Seb and graphic designer Liv are matched through the Love Bug app (which Liv helped design). Because of the app design, they don’t know the identity of their match, but they get to know each other through an exchange of information, facilitated by the app and question prompts.  So modern-day. But there was a time, back before iPhones and apps, when courtship was often accomplished through an exchange of pen-and-ink communications.  And of course, one of the most famous relationships that was nurtured through these missives of love was that of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning.

At the time they began their literary love affair, Elizabeth was one of the most prolific writers in England and the United States, and Robert was a struggling writer who had been published but had not been fully accepted in the literary world. Elizabeth, however, knew his work, and in her book of poetry A Drama of Exile, she included lines praising Robert. Robert responded to the mention with a letter of thanks, in which he wrote, “I love your verses with all my heart … and I love you, too.”

Are you swooning? Can you imagine Victorian-era Elizabeth receiving this note?

Well, this letter began an exchange of correspondence between the two, which led to them meeting for the first time that summer. Following that first meeting, they continued to exchange letters of love and admiration and they grew even closer. Robert wrote in one of his letters:

“I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett—and this is no off-hand complimentary letter that I shall write—whatever else, no prompt matter-of-course recognition of your genius, and there a graceful and natural end of the thing.”

In all, over twenty months, the two exchanged five hundred and seventy-five letters.

Unfortunately, not everyone loved this now-famous pairing. Robert and Elizabeth had to keep their courtship private, as Elizabeth’s overbearing father was adamantly against the relationship, and Robert’s parents had concerns about Elizabeth’s poor health. (She had severe lung issues.) They finally took decisive action, and Elizabeth snuck out of her house and she and Robert married in secret. She lived at home for an additional week before she and Robert fled to Italy, where Elizabeth’s doctors suggested she might experience a better quality of life. Elizabeth’s father disowned her, but Elizabeth and Robert’s love endured.  

In Italy, Elizabeth’s health improved dramatically, the two lived a wonderful, love-filled life, and they had a son, Robert. They were married happily for nearly 16 years, until Elizabeth fell gravely ill and passed away. Robert, in his grief, prepared Elizabeth’s final book for publication.
While both writers are known for their literary genius, they are also well-known for being deeply in love, and the letters they left behind are a testament to that love.

Have you ever written a love letter? A love note? A love text or email? I feel like maybe the expression of love through the written word should make a comeback…

And if you would like to read Seb and Liv’s story, The Dating Dilemma, a forbidden-romance (he’s her boss), workplace rom-com, it is available now on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.