Publication Date

8-1989

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Ward Hellstrom, Robert Ward, Frank Steele

Degree Program

Department of English

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Charlotte Mew (1869-1928) published short stories, essays, and poetry between 1894 and the time of her death. She published a slim volume of poems in 1916, a few of which place her as one of the great English poets. Indeed, both Thomas Hardy and Virginia Woolf thought her one of the greatest living female poets. Mew is particularly interesting as a poet who was born in the Victorian period, published during the “decadent decade” of the nineties, throughout Edward’s reign, and well into the reign of George V. Although few of Mew’s poems are dated, there is a gradual yet continual change from her early work to her latest.

In her work, Mew questions her relationship with God, nature and humanity. She asked questions asked by Emily Bronte, George Meredith, and Thomas Hardy. Like them, she was knowledgeable in the new science and believed in its results. She was a seeker for a workable philosophy on which to base her life, which she never fully found. It is both painful and fruitful to join her in her search through her works as she tries to come to terms with these issues.

Disciplines

English Language and Literature | Literature in English, British Isles

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