Wordsworth's Monastic Inheritance: Poetry, Place, and the Sense of Community by Jessica Fay

Abstract

 Reviews most famous work, Women’s Speaking Justified ( and ), ‘one of the first defenses of women’s preaching in the Christian tradition’ (p. ), was completed while she was in prison. e edition, therefore, firmly places Fell as an important and wide-ranging writer ‘not only in Quaker Studies, but more broadly in early modern women’s studies, religious studies, and the history of rhetoric’, as well as feminist scholarship (pp. –). It is likely to be of interest to both scholars and students, and its thorough footnotes on individual texts (particularly concerning biblical allusions) are exemplary. Readers interested in the beginnings of Quakerism, especially women’s role in the early movement, will find much of interest here. A scholarly Introduction outlines the key religious, political, and social concerns of relevance to Fell’s work, and there are individual introductions to each text. However, the most revealing aspect of this edition is the attention given to Fell’s ability as a skilled rhetorician, adept at craing arguments suited to different, though oen overlapping, readerships. is is demonstrated through the editors’ choice of eight texts representing ‘the range of Fell’s writing in genre and chronology’ (p. ), including her autobiography , examination, and several epistles and arguments. e longest sections of the -page introduction to these works make the case that Fell’s reading and rhetorical practices, specifically the way she utilizes scriptural allusions, are examples of ‘collaborative coauthorship characteristic of early modern textual production’, rather than ‘a strategy to authorize the illegitimate female voice’ (p. ). e editors make a persuasive case that Fell, rather than utilizing an ‘ecstatic style’, draws on the ‘humanist tradition of commonplaces’ (p. ), interweaving paraphrases from various biblical books (her ‘favourites’ are Isaiah and the Gospels) in order to adapt her rhetoric to different contexts. Readers of this volume will certainly come away with an increased appreciation of Fell’s literary strategies and her place within early modern reading and writing cultures more generally. One side effect of privileging Fell’s undoubtable literary achievement in this edition is that what is exceptional about her work, and what is characteristic of other male or female Quaker writing from this period, becomes a little obscured. But despite this very small quibble, this important and meticulously researched volume leaves us in no doubt of Fell’s future inclusion in the early modern canon. K U R A Wordsworth’s Monastic Inheritance: Poetry, Place, and the Sense of Community. By J F. (Oxford English Monographs) Oxford: Oxford University Press. . xvi+ pp. £. ISBN ––––. Beginning with the childhood trips to Furness Abbey narrated in Book  of e Prelude, Wordsworth visited at least forty monastic sites in Britain and Europe over the course of a long life, the vast majority of these in northern England. His attraction to such places clearly had more to it than a strong feeling for their picturesque qualities. Jessica Fay’s diligently researched study explores the apparent contradiction between Wordsworth’s vigorous opposition to Catholic emancipation and his MLR, .,   growing sympathy for the medieval Catholic Church and regret at the violence of the Dissolution. Her focus for these enquiries is the poetry of Wordsworth’s so-called ‘middle period’—the years  to , sandwiched between the ‘Great Decade’ culminating in e Prelude and the later years, which have enjoyed a mini-revival of critical interest of late. Fay’s discussions therefore encompass some of the least favoured and most obscure corners of the poet’s canon, such as e White Doe of Rylstone, e Excursion, and Ecclesiastical Sketches. It is a hard task to lure new readers to these overgrown areas of the poet’s œuvre, and Fay’s deep immersion in her subject perhaps leads her to assume too much familiarity and prior intellectual investment on the part of her audience. Fay’s historical scholarship and critical acumen are such that there are pockets of genuine interest throughout the book. I enjoyed finding out how Wordsworth’s reading about Quakerism coincided with his long period of residence with the Beaumonts at Coleorton in Leicestershire (with nearby Grace Dieu Priory), and how the garden he designed there was meant to encourage quiet contemplation and ‘cultivate...