"With quiet indignation I broke in.
'You misconceive the question like a man,
Who sees a woman as the complement
Of his sex merely. You forget too much
That every creature, female as the male,
Stands single in responsible act and thought
As also in birth and death. Whoever says
To a loyal woman, "Love and work with me,"
Will get fair answers, if the work and love
Being good themselves, are good for her–the best
She was born for […]

"'But me, your work
Is not the best for, –nor your love the best,
Nor able to commend the kind of work
For love's sake merely. Ah, you force me, sir,
To be over-bold in speaking of myself,–
I, too, have my vocation, –work to do,
The heavens and earth have set me, since I changed
My father's face for theirs,–and though your world
Were twice as wretched as you represent
Most serious work, most necessary work,
As any of the economists'.'" (Book 2)

Ever seen a marriage proposal go very, very badly? Well, this is the Victorian equivalent, in verse. In Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barrett Browning imagines a girl going it alone to become an artist. So when Romney (the not-so-lovable lover) tries to get Aurora to sign up to be his wife and sidekick, Aurora is having none of it. She has her own calling, and she wants to be a poet; she's not to play Robin to Romney's Batman.

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Poet

When Aurora speaks up for herself, she really goes for it. She accuses Romney of misunderstanding the question "like a man"—thinking that when he proposes that she be his wife, that'll be enough. But Aurora is pretty sure it's not enough. She's also got a "vocation," and she's not going to give it up to get married.

Aurora is something of a radical here. After all, she lives in a society where pretty much the worst thing that can happen to a woman is to remain unmarried (who wants to play the "spinster aunt" or "old maid"?). And check out how she talks about the power of poetry: she says it's "most serious work, most necessary work, / As any of the economists'." Keep that one handy for the next time someone says you should take an economics class over an English class.

The Epic and the Girl

We've also got to zoom out a bit. This is an epic poem written by a woman that's all about a female poet finding her calling. (Another case for the "art imitating life" files.) It's important that Browning is using and claiming the epic, because at that point, the epic was definitely a form dominated by men (like Homer and Milton).