The Power Of Female Love In “How Do I Love Thee?” (A Feminist Perspective)

Abstract

This study examines the representation of female love in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “How Do I Love Thee?” through a feminist perspective, particularly liberal feminism. Written during the Victorian era, the poem emerges within a patriarchal social context that restricted women’s emotional expression, intellectual freedom, and social roles. Using a qualitative descriptive method and feminist literary criticism, this research analyzes diction, imagery, and thematic elements in the poem to reveal how female love is constructed as a form of power, autonomy, and equality rather than submission or dependence. The findings indicate that Browning portrays the female speaker as an active and conscious subject who defines and articulates her love independently. Through spiritual and moral imagery, the poem emphasizes women’s emotional depth, rationality, and moral agency qualities often denied to women in Victorian ideology. The analysis further demonstrates that female love in the poem transcends physical and social limitations, functioning as a means of self-affirmation and resistance to patriarchal norms. Ultimately, this study concludes that “How Do I Love Thee?” is not merely a romantic sonnet but also an early manifestation of feminist thought that affirms women’s dignity, equality, and humanity within a restrictive socio-cultural framework.