This thesis traces the connections between Dorothy Livesay and William Blake, especially with respect to the construction and symbolization of the self. Models of influence relevant to Livesay and Blake are examined resulting in a contextual model of influence which considers artists' "anxiety" and the importance of gender issues. Archival documents supplement, and sometimes transform the implications of, Livesay's poetry and other published works in relation to Blake. The discussion moves from tracing the general points of intersection between Livesay and Blake (ancestors, traditions), to focusing on the different levels of influence that can be claimed between the two poets. The presence of Blake in Livesay's writings is examined closely, especially with respect to the imaginative states which each sets up to describe the self. Finally, Livesay's construction of the journey of her own life and her movement towards an ideal of self-completion which culminate in her celebratory late works are compared with Blake's ideal of the self as set forth in his Prophetic Works.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68083 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Dougherty, Karen |
| Contributors | Trehearne, Brian (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of English.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001403957, proquestno: AAIMM94330, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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