Lesbian Muse and Poetic Identity, 18891930

Throughout history the poetic muse has tended to be (a passive) female and the poet male. This dynamic caused problems for late Victorian and twentieth-century women poets; how could the muse be reclaimed and moved on from the passive role of old? Parker looks at¿fin-de-siècle¿and modernist lyric poets to investigate how they overcame these challenges and identifies three key strategies: the reconfiguring of the muse as a contemporary instead of a historical/mythological figure; the muse as a male figure; and an interchangeable poet/muse relationship, granting agency to both.

List of contents

Introduction 1. Historical Muse Figures, Imagined Ancestries and Contemporary Muses 2. Michael Field 3. Olive Custance 4. Amy Lowell 5. H.D. and Bryher Conclusion

About the author

Sarah Parker is an Impact Research Fellow in English Studies at University of Stirling, UK.

Product details

• Authors: Sarah Parker
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.01.2016
• EAN: 9781138662186
• ISBN: 978-1-138-66218-6
• No. of pages: 240
• Series: Gender and Genre
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, SOCIAL SCIENCE / LGBTQ+ Studies / General, Literary studies: poetry and poets, Lesbian studies, LGBTQ+ Studies / topics