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Book 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Aurora Leigh, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Marriage, Equality, and Social Class
Feminism and Women’s Roles
Art and Truth
Justice, Art, and Love
Summary
Analysis
Aurora has achieved mild success as a writer in London, receiving letters from people who praise her writing and also give sometimes-contradictory criticism. Aurora also receives a letter from Vincent Carrington, a friend of Romney who writes about how Romney continues to be obsessed with social causes and trying to remake the world into a better place, while Carrington himself is content just to paint.
Aurora’s progress in publishing follows a realistic path for a writer of that era. She describes her experiences with self-awareness about how insignificant her own place in the literary world is, at least at first. By contrast, Carrington does not seem to be as self-critical about his painting, perhaps reflecting how as a man, he doesn’t feel the same scrutiny to reflect on himself and justify his profession.
Themes
Aurora rents a chamber up three flights of stairs in the Kensington area of London. She enjoys being able to work in solitude. Of her writing work, she says she has done “some excellent things indifferently,some bad things excellently,” with both receiving praise but particularly the latter. Romney never writes to Aurora, and she feels that his silence must be a sign of disdain.
The urban environment of London is a sharp contrast from the country estate of Leigh Hall. Still, Aurora spends much of her time in isolation. While in one sense, Aurora’s ability to make it on her own as a writer is a triumph, her solitary way of working shows how she continues to shut herself off from the rest of the world. The fact that Aurora gets the most praise for doing “bad things excellently” suggests that in spite of her successes, she still struggles to live up to her high ambitions as a writer to create something epic and original. It also suggests that the average public’s literary taste isn’t very discerning.
Themes
Aurora continues working, sometimes getting frustrated and tearing her poems up. People tell her she looks ill from working too much. Slowly, Aurora makes her way into London’s literary world and learns its customs, writing less serious articles and stories to make an income to support her real passion of serious poetry.
Aurora’s life as a writer continues to recall her life back at Leigh Hall, as she once again becomes pale and sickly from ill health. This suggests that even after escaping the oppressive conditions at Leigh Hall, there is still something important missing from Aurora’s life.
Themes
One day, a woman with a very aristocratic voice called Lady Waldemar comes to visit Aurora. Aurora admits she is surprised to see the woman, since she wasn’t expecting any visitors. Lady Waldemar assures Aurora she means no harm. She asks if Aurora is indeed the cousin of Romney. Aurora confirms this, then Lady Waldemar asks if Aurora loves him. Aurora says she only loves him as a cousin.
Lady Waldemar’s sudden intrusion into Aurora’s life is an early sign of how her character likes to meddle in the lives of others. Although Aurora denies loving Romney, she has also been hoping and waiting for a letter from him, once again raising the question of whether she is being honest about her feelings toward him.
Themes
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Lady Waldemar says she’ll speak directly: She herself is in love with Romney. Aurora tries to warn her that she’s “no friend” for Lady Waldemar to make confessions to, but Lady Waldemar says she’s willing to make a new friend. She explains that her first husband left her with a fair amount of money, and since she’s still young, many people would like to marry her. She believes she’d be a fitting match for Romney. She says she knows that love is irrational and that perhaps she could find someone richer, but Romney is the one she wants. Aurora reassures her that she too believes in the power of love and that Lady Waldemar has no need to explain or apologize.
This passage parallels Romney’s own proposal to Aurora. Just as Romney was a “sensible” choice for Aurora who couldn’t imagine being rejected, Lady Waldemar takes the same condescending attitude toward Romney. Also similar to Romney, Lady Waldemar’s actions are a bit presumptuous, as she acknowledges that her own love for Romney is illogical from the perspective of trying to find the “best” marriage prospect, but she doesn’t consider the possibility that Romney’s own feelings may be equally irrational.
Themes
Lady Waldemar asks for Aurora’s help with her cousin Romney, but Aurora says it’s up to Romney to make his own choice about a wife. Lady Waldemar tells Aurora that in fact, he has already done so and intends to marry a woman who is socially beneath him in just a week, which Aurora is surprised to learn. Lady Waldemar herself has tried everything she can to win over Romney herself, even getting involved with his social causes and signing petitions. Although he spoke appreciatively to Lady Waldemar, he went no further.
Lady Waldemar continues to show her condescending attitude, believing that Romney isn’t fit to choose his own marriage partner. Lady Waldemar claims that her own interest in Romney is based on a strong and irrational love, but her selfish way of following this love makes it clear that she doesn’t want an equal relationship and instead just wants to be able to dictate Romney’s life.
Themes
Lady Waldemar goes on to tell Aurora how she teased Romney about his upcoming marriage one day. Waldemar told Romney she thought it was admirable for him to throw away his good family name for someone below him and that it was better for him to boast about the marriage instead of trying to hide it, because otherwise people might think there was something disreputable going on. This clearly rattled Romney, who asked Lady Waldemar if she knew Aurora. Lady Waldemar lied and said yes. She said she would go find Aurora, and the two of them would go together to see Marian Erle, the woman Romney’s engaged to, in order to help end any gossip around the upcoming marriage.
Although Romney likes making outward signs of his own generosity, like marrying Marian, who is socially “beneath” him, this passage shows that he is not fully willing to leave behind the customs of upper-class society, still afraid of doing anything that might cause a scandal. Lady Waldemar’s willingness to lie even about small things like knowing Aurora shows how she will stop at nothing to achieve her goals and doesn’t care about her methods. This makes her very different from Aurora, who does things like refusing money from Romney solely on the principle of the matter.
Themes
Lady Waldemar’s scheme got Romney to delay his marriage to Marian Erle by a month. In the present, after hearing all this, Aurora agrees to go see if Marian is worthy of Romney, but she warns Waldemar that Waldemar might get no benefit from this trip. Lady Waldemar replies that her only goal was to stall Romney’s marriage and to have an occasion to meet Aurora, whom she can tell is influential with Romney.
Lady Waldemar clearly believes that she can manipulate Aurora to take her side, once again showing arrogance and seeming oblivious to the possibility that someone might not want her to marry Romney. A part of Lady Waldemar seems to be aware that Aurora is a potential rival, even if Aurora doesn’t think of herself that way.
Themes
Aurora tells Lady Waldemar that she doesn’t think Lady Waldemar’s love for Romney is strong enough and that she should just go to the opera or something to try to cure it. Lady Waldemar says Aurora is harsh and that Waldemar would make a great wife for Romney to love. Aurora thinks Romney doesn’t want anyone to love, just a woman to use to help him, like a horse. Lady Waldemar gives up and takes her leave of Aurora.
By suggesting that Lady Waldemar could cure her love for Romney simply by going to the opera, Aurora is suggesting that Lady Waldemar’s love isn’t particularly deep and would be easy to overcome. While Aurora’s insult may be true, this passage also has the added layer that Aurora’s feelings toward Romney are still ambiguous and she may be discouraging Lady Waldemar from pursuing Romney due to her own suppressed feelings toward him.
Themes
Unsure how to feel, Aurora goes on her own to the building where Marian Erle lives. There’s a sick child out front, and Marian lives several floors up. Marian expects Romney and is surprised to see Aurora. Aurora assesses Marian, noting to herself that Marian is not particularly beautiful and looks childish. Marian tells her life story.
The poor state of Marian’s building and the sick child out front help to establish that she comes from the lower class and lives an impoverished life, even compared to Aurora’s own relatively sparse living arrangements. The childishness of Marian’s features suggests that Romney is still looking to play a paternal, dominant role in marriage, instead of finding his equal.
Themes
Marian grew up in an illegally constructed house in a slum. Her father worked various odd jobs, eventually becoming a drover (livestock herder). He got drunk and yelled at his wife for not having more money for alcohol, and Marian’s mother in turn treated Marian harshly, beating her. Marian learned how to cry quietly. Marian would creep out on her own to look at the open sky, which helped her to learn about God. At Sunday school, Marian befriended a girl named Rose, who, to Marian’s amazement, laughed freely without being scolded or beaten by her mother. Marian later found out that this was because Rose’s mother died six years ago, when Rose was just one year old.
Although Aurora had her own difficulties growing up, Marian’s even worse situation shows how Aurora was lucky to have at least some time with a supportive mother and father. By contrast, Marian’s early household was abusive, and her shy personality in the present seems to be a result of how her parents stifled her in the past. As a child, Marian thinks that her friend Rose is lucky that her mother doesn’t beat her, only to learn that Rose has no mother at all. All of this hints at the extent of the suffering among the poor in England at this time.
Themes
Learning more at Sunday school only made it more difficult for Marian to live in her abusive home, where doing the right thing often led to punishment. Marian grew up without any book learning or knowledge of authors. She struggled at jobs, both outdoors and indoors work. One day, her mother tried to sell her into sex work by giving her to a squire, but she resisted and ran away until she couldn’t anymore. Someone found her passed out in a ditch and took her to the hospital, where she had a bad fever for a while but eventually recovered due to her youthful energy. It was right before she was about to leave the hospital that Romney Leigh came one day. Seeing Marian, he took pity on her and asked about her situation. She said both her parents were “lost” to her, with her father drunk and her mother trying to lead her into evil.
Similar to Aurora, Marian’s process of growing up involves becoming more religious. The difference is that while Aurora learned from books, Marian had no choice but to learn from observing the world around her. While Aurora had to learn how to be independent because her parents died, Marian had to become independent after realizing that her parents didn’t have her best interests at heart. Although Marian and Aurora come from different circumstances, they each try to leave behind the traditions of the past to make their own way, giving them something in common.
Themes
Marian was entranced by Romney’s tender way of speaking. He wanted to help her live a better life and helped encourage her growing interest in God. Eventually, he helped her to get a job sewing, where she worked vigorously as a way to try to show her worth to him.
Book 3 ends without answering the question of whether Marian and Romney’s love is true. Certainly, Marian seems to feel real gratitude for the kindness that Romney shows her after everyone else in her life has treated her so poorly. Still, this passage shows Romney acting charitably toward Marian but not necessarily showing personal love, suggesting that perhaps he is still searching for marriage on the same flawed grounds that he showed when he originally proposed to Aurora.
Themes
