Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838); variation of the original painting by Daniel Maclise
Born(1802-08-14)14 August 1802
Chelsea, Middlesex, England
Died15 October 1838(1838-10-15) (aged 36)
Other namesLetitia Elizabeth Maclean
L. E. L.
Iole
Occupationwriter
Known forPoetry
Fiction
Reviews
StylePost-Romantic
Spouse
(m. 1838)
Signature

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]

  1. ^ Baiesi
  2. ^ Sypher
  3. ^ Miller
  4. ^ Sypher