Letitia Elizabeth Landon | |
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 Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838); variation of the original painting by Daniel Maclise | |
| Born | 14 August 1802 Chelsea, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 15 October 1838 (aged 36) Cape Coast Castle, Ashanti Empire (now in Ghana) |
| Other names | Letitia Elizabeth Maclean L. E. L. Iole |
| Occupation | writer |
| Known for | Poetry Fiction Reviews |
| Style | Post-Romantic |
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Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major breakthrough came with The Improvisatrice and thence she developed the metrical romance towards the Victorian ideal of the Victorian monologue, influencing fellow English writers such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson and Christina Rossetti.[1][2] Her influence can also be found in the United States, where she was very popular. Edgar Allan Poe regarded her genius as self-evident.[3]
In spite of these wide influences, due to the perceived immorality of Landon's lifestyle, her works were largely ignored or misrepresented after her death.[4]