Book contents
- Robert Lowell in Context
- Robert Lowell In Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Places
- Part II American Politics, American Wars
- Part III Some Literary Models
- Part IV Contemporaries
- Part V Life, Illness, and the Arts
- Chapter 16 Religion
- Chapter 17 Marriage
- Chapter 18 Desensationalizing Madness
- Chapter 19 Photography
- Chapter 20 Painting
- Part VI Reputation and New Contexts
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 17 - Marriage
from Part V - Life, Illness, and the Arts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2024
- Robert Lowell in Context
- Robert Lowell In Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Places
- Part II American Politics, American Wars
- Part III Some Literary Models
- Part IV Contemporaries
- Part V Life, Illness, and the Arts
- Chapter 16 Religion
- Chapter 17 Marriage
- Chapter 18 Desensationalizing Madness
- Chapter 19 Photography
- Chapter 20 Painting
- Part VI Reputation and New Contexts
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This chapter explores the representation of marriage in Robert Lowell’s poetry. It considers the often-controversial relationship between his biography and the published poems, and further explores how he uses marital dynamics to interrogate knowledge of self and other. At various times throughout his career, Lowell examines the social and domestic structures provided by marriage, representing the institution as a space of stability and emotional intensity, and therefore one that both inspires and supports creative achievement. Lowell’s third union, with Caroline Blackwood, intensified his engagement with the subject of marriage, prompting deeper analysis of states of intimacy and endurance in this final phase of his writing life. This chapter begins with Lowell’s late work, in particular with the volume Day by Day (1977), but argues that his preoccupation with marriage can be traced back through The Dolphin (1973) to the confessional mode of the era-defining Life Studies (1959) and to its radical approach to tone and form that, at that time, enabled Lowell to interrogate the vexed relationship between private and public histories in profound ways.
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- Information
- Robert Lowell In Context , pp. 185 - 194Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024