Tennyson to Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In his book, The Early Victorians 1832–1851, Professor J. F. C. Harrison writes that ‘the early Victorian era was essentially a religious one’. He then expands on this: ‘When we say, then, that the early Victorian period was a religious age we do not mean that everyone went to church (though a large proportion of the population in fact did so) but that Protestant evangelicalism was a basic ingredient in the dominant ideology’. Many of the sonnets written during this period certainly bear out that there is some validity in Professor Harrison's analysis. Sonnets and sonnet sequences abound that are not only religious in nature but staunchly defend the traditions and beliefs of the established Protestant church. Isaac Williams is one of the most visible sonneteers in this respect. Many of the sonnets by contemporaries such as Henry Alford, Aubrey de Vere and Martin Tupper, whilst ostensibly dealing with other subjects, convey a strong religious message at their core. It is interesting to note that there are hardly any sonnets that challenge this religious perspective. Even the 1844 sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett [Browning], whilst recording her deep personal anguish at the death of her brother Bro and other family members in the preceding few years, chart a realisation that through Christ's love and suffering, one can submit to the pains of life on earth and find salvation in heaven.