Emily Pfeiffer and Victorian women's religious poetry

• Main Author: Brand, Prudence
• Other Authors: Varty, Anne
• Published: Royal Holloway, University of London 2012
• Subjects: 821.8; Royal Holloway : Prudence Brand : Prue Brand : Victorian Womens Poetry : Christian Feminism : Emily Pfeiffer
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.586609

As a Christian, Emily Pfeiffer (1827-1890) saw women's fight for emancipation as a crusade that transcends the earthly state. Yet, although her poetry was well-received during her life-time, Pfeiffer remains obscure. In order to challenge values that may have helped to perpetuate Pfeiffer's non-canonical status, I examine Pfeiffer's poetry against a broader definition of religious practice and worship than was traditionally applied to Victorian women's poetry. Responding to a recent re-evaluation of the criteria for what constitutes nineteenth-century religious literature, I demonstrate that Pfeiffer's poetry occupies a unique position in the canon of Victorian women's religious poetry. To determine what made Pfeiffer such an original thinker, my research considers childhood experiences from which the psychological imprint nev~r faded. In order to compensate for losses and disappointments, Pfeiffer learned to channel her frustrations into her poetry early in life. A Central Anglican, Pfeiffer belonged to a declining strand of the Established Church during a period when other branches of Christianity were expanding.