Synopses & Reviews
Review
"This well-written book is a valuable introduction to the neglected poetry of L. E. L., Augusta Webster, Michael Field,
Alice Meynell, and Charlotte Mew, and a fresh reinterpretation of the more familiar work of Felicia Hemans, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Christina Rossetti. Many of these poets were well known in their time, but have been shoved into oblivion in favor of their male contemporaries. In each chapter, Leighton concisely recovers the poet's biography and then skillfully discusses the author's major preoccupations and rhetorical strategies. Highly recommended!" Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
This book recovers and explores an important tradition of nineteenth-century women's poetry from Felicia Hemans to Charlotte Mew. Angela Leighton not only discusses the work of neglected poets such as Augusta Webster and Michael Field, but also charts the development of women's poetry from sentimentalism of Hemans and L.E.L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon) to the various strategies of self-displacement employed by the best of the Victorians, especially Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti.
Combining biographical material with theoretical readings of the poems, Angela Leighton offers a reinterpretation not only of some original and intriguing literature, but also of the very canon of Victorian poetry. Impressive in scope and highly original in its aims, this study will serve as the main critical work in this area for many years to come.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 302-315) and index.