Women in Romanticism: Mary Wollstonecraft, Dorothy Wordsworth and Mary Shelley

by Meena Alexander

What did it mean to write as a woman in the Romantic era? How did women writers test and refashion the claims or the grand self, the central 'I,' we typically see in Romanticism? In this powerful and original study Meena Alexander examines the work of three Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) the radical feminist who typically thought of life as 'warfare' and revolted against the social condition of women; Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855) who lived a private life enclosed by the bonds of femininity, under the protection of her poet brother William and his family; Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the daughter that Wollstonecraft died giving birth to, mistress then wife of the poet Percy Shelley, and precocious author of Frankenstein. Mapping a Female Romanticism; Romantic Feminine; True Appearances; Of Mothers and Mamas; Writing in Fragments; Natural Enclosures; Unnatural Creation; Revising the Feminine; Versions of the Sublime^R

180 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1989

About the author

Meena Alexander was an internationally acclaimed poet, scholar, and writer. Born in Allahabad, India, and raised in India and Sudan, Alexander lived and worked in New York City, where she was Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and at the CUNY Graduate Center in the PhD program in English. She was the author of numerous collections of poetry, literary memoirs, essays, and works of fiction and literary criticism.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few reasons I grabbed this off of the shelf. I'm studying 'Frankenstein' at university, so the sections on Mary Shelley helped. The course takes a broader look at Romanticism, heavily focusing on the poetry of William Wordsworth, so I had an interest in his sister, Dorothy. I'm also highly interested in feminism, so reading about Mary Wollstonecraft was an automatic selling point.
Reading about these three women in context with each other, as well as the famous men around them, was interesting. Sadly, this was just a boring way of exploring it. Loosely focused on a different subject each chapter, the emphasis can be placed on the term 'loose'. Meena Alexander is obviously interested in the topic she's exploring, but that passion makes it incoherent at times. This is probably the reason for the random assortment of nonsensical sentences, too. I didn't make a note of any specific examples (something I should have done, in hindsight), but there were multiple instances throughout this fairly short book when I had question marks above my head because the sentences were far too convoluted and made no sense.

[Nisha-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turgid but increasingly valuable. The Wollestonecraft was fascinating because of discovery. The Wordsworth unexpectedly triggering in a creative sense. And the Shelley triggering in every sense.

So glad I sought this book out. So proud and glad it's written by a fellow former Indian female writer.