Doug,
Well, there +was+ Laura (Riding) Jackson, so Graves wasn't exactly allowed
to forget it. But it is a problem -- or a problematic -- even beyond
Graves, as to what constitutes the Muse for a female poet.
The (human) muse figures begin coming in with Dante and Petrarch, don't
they? where they're constructed as inaccessible in a different way from
goddesses -- cut off by the bounds of religion. Then Shakespeare spins this
by choosing a male (therefore, arguably, inaccessible in a different way)
muse figure ...
By extension, the ideal muse figure for a female poet would be a gay male.
Robin
> one of the big problems with Graves & his approach to 'the Muse' was the
> fact that it allowed for no female poets, & given how many great ones
there
> have been from almost the very beginning (Sappho), this tiny, unimportant
> (of course) slip did, finally, lead me to wonder if perhaps his grand
> design wasn't just a wee bit, um, false...?
>
> Doug
>
> Douglas Barbour
> Department of English
> University of Alberta
> Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
> (h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
>
> Beauty's whatever
> makes the adrenalin run.
>
> John Newlove
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