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Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton [1808-1877] ENG
Ranked #249 in the top 380 poets
Votes 44%: 54 up, 69 down

Poet, critic and magazine editor.

Political. Social justice. Extend women's legal rights.

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah North was an English author.  She was the granddaughter of playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Norton gained more renown for her eventful life than for her writings. 

Married at the age of nineteen Caroline began writing both to amuse and express herself, and to help support herself and her husband. Their marriage was a disaster. It would have been hard to find two people more ill-suited. Caroline was outgoing, witty, and head-strong. Norton disliked `cleverness`, was not clever himself, and would discuss neither public nor their private affairs with her. Their political differences were a source of friction. He resented her closeness with her family; she came to dislike his relatives. He determined to teach her not to `set herself up` against him. Within a few months of their marriage, he became physically abusive towards her.  

Writing was in the family tradition. The Sheridan name was one to attract attention. Her first book came out in 1829: The Sorrows of Rosalie, A Tale with Other Poems. By then, Caroline also had a son, Fletcher Spencer Norton. In both roles, author and mother, Caroline found great satisfaction and happiness.  

But by the time of Caroline`s third pregnancy, in 1832, her relationship with her husband was becoming increasingly difficult. His violent behaviour alienated both Caroline and her family. In 1834, Caroline`s family became so disgusted with Norton`s conduct that they refused further contact with him. In 1835, pregnant for the fourth time, she was badly beaten and miscarried. Increasingly, she and her children sought refuge with her relatives, while Norton spent his time with a rich cousin, Margaret Vaughan. The final break between the Nortons came after a quarrel about where the children should spend Easter, 1836. When Caroline left the house to consult her sister, Norton unexpectedly sent the children to Margaret Vaughan, and ordered the servants not to let Caroline back in. Legally, as their father, he could dispose of them as he wished, regardless of their mother`s wishes. Also by law, the house and all that was in it, even Caroline`s personal correspondence, clothing, and manuscripts, were legally Norton`s.

Her husband George Norton`s divorce suit, with Lord Melbourne as correspondent, caused a sensation in its time. Although Norton lost the suit, he was given custody of their children and allowed to collect his wife`s literary earnings. 

Her writings included poems and novels; however, she is best-remembered for English Laws for Women in the Nineteenth Century (1854) and A Letter to the Queen (1855), both of which helped bring about improvement of the status of married women in England.

Bibliography source: upenn.edu

Victorian

YearsCountryPoetInteraction
1793-1835
ENG
Felicia Dorothea Hemans
→ influenced Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
1828-1909
ENG
George Meredith
→ friend of Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton


WorkLangRating
We Have Been Friends Together
eng
5
Love Not
eng
1
"The Undying One" - Canto I
eng
0
"The Undying One" - Canto II
eng
0
"The Undying One" - Canto III
eng
0
"The Undying One" - Canto IV
eng
0
A Destiny
eng
0
A Voice From The Factories
eng
0
An Emblem of Life
eng
0
As When From Dreams Awaking.
eng
0
Babel
eng
0
Dedication
eng
0
Description Of A Lost Friend
eng
0
Dreams
eng
0
Edward
eng
0
Escape From The Snares Of Love
eng
0
First Love
eng
0
I Cannot Love Thee!
eng
0
I Was Not False To Thee
eng
0
Ifs
eng
0
Mary
eng
0
May-Day, 1837
eng
0
My Childhood`s Home
eng
0
My Heart Is Like A Withered Nut!
eng
0
My Native Land!
eng
0
Old Friends
eng
0
On Seeing Anthony, The Eldest Child Of Lord And Lady Ashley
eng
0
On The Purple And White Carnation
eng
0
Picture of Twilight
eng
0
Recollections
eng
0
Recollections Of A Faded Beauty
eng
0
Sonnet I
eng
0
Sonnet II
eng
0
Sonnet III
eng
0
Sonnet IV
eng
0
Sonnet IX
eng
0
Sonnet V
eng
0
Sonnet VI
eng
0
Sonnet VII
eng
0
Sonnet VIII
eng
0
Sonnet X
eng
0
Sonnet XI
eng
0
Sonnet XII
eng
0
Sonnet XIII
eng
0
Sonnet XIV
eng
0
Sonnet XIX
eng
0
Sonnet XV
eng
0
Sonnet XVI
eng
0
Sonnet XVII
eng
0
Sonnet XVIII
eng
0
The Arab’s Faerwell To His Horse
eng
0
The Autumn Wind
eng
0
The Banner Of The Covenanters
eng
0
The Blind Man’s Bride
eng
0
The Boatswain’s Song
eng
0
The Bride
eng
0
The Captive Pirate
eng
0
The Careless Word
eng
0
The Chapel Royal St. James’s, On The 10th February, 1840
eng
0
The Child Of Earth
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Autumn
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Conclusion
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Opening
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Spring
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Summer
eng
0
The Child Of The Islands - Winter
eng
0
The Christening
eng
0
The Cold Change
eng
0
The Creole Girl; Or, The Physician’s Story
eng
0
The Crooked Sixpence
eng
0
The Dream
eng
0
The Dying Hour
eng
0
The Faithful Friend
eng
0
The Faithful Guardian
eng
0
The Faithless Knight
eng
0
The Fallen Leaves
eng
0
The Fever-Dream
eng
0
The Forsaken
eng
0
The Future.
eng
0
The German Student’s Love-Song
eng
0
The Greek Girl’s Lament For Her Lover
eng
0
The Hunting Horn Of Chalemagne
eng
0
The King Of Denmark’s Ride
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - A Threnody
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Conclusion
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Dedication
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Part I
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Part II
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Part III
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Part IV
eng
0
The Lady Of La Garaye - Prologue
eng
0
The Lament For Shuil Donald’s Daughter
eng
0
The Lost One
eng
0
The Mother’s Heart
eng
0
The Mother’s Last Watch
eng
0
The Mourners
eng
0
The Name
eng
0
The Picture Of Sappho
eng
0
The Pilgrim of Life.
eng
0
The Poet’s Choice
eng
0
The Poplar Field
eng
0
The Rebel
eng
0
The Reprieve
eng
0
The Ringlet
eng
0
The Rock Of The Betrayed
eng
0
The Sense Of Beauty
eng
0
The Tryst
eng
0
The Visionary Portrait
eng
0
The Wanderer Looking Into Other Homes
eng
0
The Widow To Her Son’s Betrothed
eng
0
The Winter`s Walk
eng
0
The Winter’s Walk
eng
0
They Loved One Another
eng
0
To Ferdinand Seymour
eng
0
To The Lady H.O.
eng
0
Twilight
eng
0
Weep Not For Him That Dieth
eng
0
When Poor In All But Hope And Love
eng
0
Would I Were With Thee!
eng
0

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