Felicia Hemans's Sonnets on Female Characters of Scripture
Authors: Mason, Emma1; Roberts, Jonathan1
Source: The Yearbook of English Studies, Volume 39, Numbers 1-2, 1 july 2009 , pp. 72-83(12)
Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
This essay examines the question of spiritual identity in Felicia Hemans's rewritings of William Wordsworth and the Bible. The argument focuses on Hemans's Female Characters of Scripture, which provide a set of biblical women's narratives lifted out of their original patriarchal biblical settings, and also a parallel moment of emancipation for Hemans as she establishes a poetic voice independent of her role model, William Wordsworth. Particular interest is shown in how this moment of dual emancipation is predicated not on a masculinized Bloomian model of Oedipal strife, but on a feminized model of collaborative coexistence. As men who embody `feminine' qualities of compassion and emotion, Jesus and Wordsworth are depicted by Hemans as empowering identities beyond gender. This essay explores the interplay of biographical, poetic, religious, and emotional experiences through which Hemans negotiates and participates in these emancipatory spiritual identities.Keywords: Felicia Hemans; William Wordsworth; Bible; Female Characters of Scripture; collaborative; Jesus; Wordsworth; beyond gender; emotional experiences
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: 1: University of Warwick and University of Liverpool
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Click here for Page Help