Dorothy Wordsworth: Sister and Poet
interesting to conjecture whether, if Dorothy lived in another age or time, she would have been motivated to pursue literary fame or recognition like her brother. Sadly, her life ended in illness and opium addiction.
ADDENDUM: A group of women circled around the ring of Romantic poets that included Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Robert Southey. Kathleen Jones recently published, to favorable review, A Passionate Sisterhood, a group biography of these women. The jacket copy states that the reader will be taken "into the kitchens, sickrooms, and eventually the madwoman's attics of these major Romantic households." It promises to be an enlightening peek into the world that both excited and constrained the talented sister of a talented brother. Having purchased the book months ago, I hope to find the time to read and review it soon. It may be worth investigating on your own, and if you do, I'd love to hear from you!
Other books of interest:
A Paperback edition of her journals: The Grasmere Journals
A Biography: Dorothy Wordsworth
Dorothy's journals in regard to her travels through Scotland: Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland
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Quotes from William's poetry are from:
Wordsworth, William. Selected Poems and Prefaces. Ed. Jack Stillinger. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Quotes from Dorothy's journals are from:
Wordsworth, Dorothy. Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth. Ed. E. de Selincourt. London: Macmillan, 1959.
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