E L I Z A B E T H B A R R E TT B R O W N I N G

GENRE AND AURORA LEIGH

GENRE IN AURORA LEIGH: EPIC

• Epic

• Long poem in elevated style

• About a hero figure who represents the national spirit

• i.e. Homer’s Odyssey & Odysseus, Virgils Aeneid & Aeneas.

GENRE IN AURORA LEIGH: ROMANCE

• Romance

• Novel or long poem about heroic deeds, usually in an imaginary or historical setting.

GENRE IN AURORA LEIGH: BILDUNGSROMAN

• Bildungsroman

• Ger. Bildung [formation, growth, eduction] + Roman [novel] = literally “education novel”)

• Novel about the formation of an individual, usually an artist or person of great intellect.

• i.e. James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

GENRE IN AURORA LEIGH: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL

• Autobiographical novel

• About self and own experiences through a fictional character and setting

• Alternate details, but the essence is similar