Michael Field’s Long Ago (1889): A Transcendental Mythopoesis of Desire and Death

Authors

  • Mayron Estefan Cantillo Lucuara University of Valencia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24197/ersjes.39.2018.69-96

Keywords:

Michael Field, Long Ago, Sappho, desire, death

Abstract

In this article, I propose a new reading of Michael Field’s Long Ago (1889) focused on explaining how this volume of verse appropriates the figure of Sappho, rewrites her failed romance with Phaon, and amplifies her archetypal image of tragic lover through a mythopoetic narrative that refashions different classical myths of desire, despair and death. I present all these myths jointly, discuss their assonances with the Sapphic archetype, and reveal how they constitute a coherent and elaborate mythography that portrays Sappho as a tragic heroine who, through the power of myth, embodies a universal paradigm of human affectivity.

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References

REFERENCES

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Published

12/12/2018

How to Cite

Cantillo Lucuara, M. E. “Michael Field’s Long Ago (1889): A Transcendental Mythopoesis of Desire and Death”. ES Review. Spanish Journal of English Studies, no. 39, Dec. 2018, pp. 69-96, doi:10.24197/ersjes.39.2018.69-96.

Issue

No. 39 (2018)

Section

Articles

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