Friday, June 10, 2011

Of God, Religion, and Aurora Leigh (and a Little Bit of Me)


Through the first book of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Aurora Leigh”, the title character and speaker critiques organized religion and promotes her own unique interpretation of it.  Aurora writes that the poets are, “the only truth-tellers now left to God,/ the only speakers of essential truth,/ Opposed to relative, comparative,/ And temporal truths,” (lines 559-662).  Society’s interpretation of religion has become too dependent on what it wants to hear.  It’s merely a way to maintain social order.  Faith and morality are not priorities.  Aurora’s aunt becomes a symbol of organized relgion, and all that Aurora finds wrong with it.  Her aunt teaches her to make, “Christian gifts/ Of knitting stockings, stitching petticoats,/ Because we are all of one flesh, after all,/ And need one flannel (with proper sense/ of difference in the quality),” (lines 297-300).  Here, Aurora scorns her aunt’s view of charity.  The goal with these gifts is more to appear pious than to actually aid anyone.  Organized religion has reduced charity to mere social convention.  Additionally, the parenthetical phrase highlights a certain hypocritical approval for the class system.  Though God made all men equal, they don’t all deserve equal shares in life.  Aurora critiques hypocrisy again later when describing her religious education.  In addition to official prayers and doctrines, Aurora’s aunt also taught her, “various popular synopses of/ Inhuman doctrines never taught by John,/ Because she liked instructed piety,” (396-398).  It is easy to justify injustices such as those created by the class system if one claims that it is all God’s will, that they are living as God wants them too, etc.  Yet, Aurora calls their bluff, writing that they are putting words into the Bible’s mouth so to speak.  
Aurora does not respond to her aunt’s instruction.  Yet, she has a very strong faith in God.  This comes from her personal spiritual ventures.  “I had relations in the Unseen, and drew/ The elemental nutriment and heat/ From nature, as earth feels as the sun at nights,/ Or as a babe sucks surely in the dark,” (lines 473-477).  Aurora finds real, fulfilling life in nature.  “God,” she writes, “I thank thee for that grace of thine!” (lines 480-481).  So it is implied that she has a sort of spiritual connection with God through her experiences in nature.  It is a pure, undefiled manifestation of His creation, and it is there that she feels closest to him.  This joyful, passionate exclamation contrasts heavily with her aunt’s gratitude.  Aurora writes, “Some people always sigh in thanking God,” (line 445).  This is yet another critique of organized religion.  Faith is not treasured.  There is no joy in it.  And how grateful does a sigh really sound?  Yet Aurora’s personal faith does have joy, it is treasured.  And she actually sounds legitimately and genuinely grateful for God in her life.  I have nothing against organized religion.  I was born and raised Catholic.  For a long time I didn’t question it.  Then I realized that I was just going through the motions.  Church wasn’t a place where you were suddenly struck with overwhelming faith.  It was a place to bring faith to worship.  And that faith was something I had to discover for myself.  It wasn’t something that confirmation classes or a good homily could teach me, any more than Aurora’s aunt could teach her.  So I relate to Aurora’s personal journey of faith.  We find both find God in the beauty and wonder of nature, and there are times I feel closer to God when alone than in the middle of a congregation. 

2 comments:

  1. I really liked the way you brought her struggle with faith in direct relation to your own. I also grew up going through the motions of going to church every Sunday, going to fellowship dinner on Wednesdays, and I found it was mainly because that what was expected of me from my grandparents, who were lifetime members of that church. It was not until I was an adult and I had a chance to evaluate my own faith and beliefs that I saw it for what it was, a personal belief and choice. I agree that Aurora’s aunt could not teach her this no matter how hard she tried. I think as children new are given the tools and foundations of what church represents, but it is not until we are adults and we have our own reflections that we are able to choose what is best for us to believe in and follow.

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  2. Heather,

    Another excellent post, with close attention to the text, deft handling of the well-chosen quotations you include, and insightful engagement with the poem's message as you connect it to your own experiences. Very nice job!

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