Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge impulsively proposed to Sarah Fricker barely two weeks after meeting her, but the problem with their marriage was that they were just fundamentally incompatible. [1]
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. Sarah Fricker was the elder sister of his friend, Robert Southey’s, fiancée, Edith. The sisters were educated and emancipated but had been forced to earn their living as seamstresses when their father’s business failed.
In October 1795, after his wedding, Coleridge wrote, “On Sunday I was married … united to the woman whom I love best of all created Beings …Mrs Coleridge – MRS. COLERIDGE – I like to write the name”. At this time, Coleridge dropped the ‘h’ from Sarah’s name.
By April 1796, Sara was pregnant, and Hartley was born in September, followed by a second son in May 1798. Sara eventually had 4 children and her focus shifted from making Coleridge happy to taking care of her growing family virtually single-handedly while Coleridge indulged in long walks and frequent absences. The household’s lack of steady income was a constant sore point between the couple.
Towards the end of 1799, Coleridge began an extended stay with his friends, the Wordsworths who enabled his opium addiction which eventually spiralled out of control. Sara was left to cope with the demands of everyday living and the needs of her children by herself, and by 1808 a permanent separation took place. Coleridge laid all the blame on Sara who was forced to live with her sister and brother-in-law, an arrangement that endured for 29 years.
During the 40 years of their marriage, the couple lived together for less than 6 years. Coleridge was more passionate and impulsive than the rational, hardworking Sara and blamed her for the tensions in the marriage, deciding she was the impediment to his happiness.
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