Masks Outrageous and Austere: Culture, Psyche, and Persona in Modern Women Poets

by Cheryl Walker

"[Walker's] well-focused, clearly written essays demonstrate the conformity and the challenges to conventional expectations defining 'women poets.' Walker's work makes a significant contribution to an often neglected area of American literary history." €”Library Journal"Based on close reading and explication of the texts, Walker brings fresh insights to each poet."ø‚ €”Choice"... Walker has devised an original analysis that puts a new spin on the works and lives of these poets." €”New Directions for WomenConcentrating on Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale, Elinor Wylie, H.D., Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Louise Bogan, Walker analyzes the highly stylized self-images€”from Lowell's androgyne to Millay's body-conscious romantic€”projected by these women who attempted to renegotiate the terms upon which they could function successfully as poets.

244 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991