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Skepticism, illusion and rigourous observation: Marianne Moore's poetic pursuit of hope

This thesis examines Marianne Moore’s poetic project of creating hope within a modern context. Building on an initial discussion of Moore’s skeptical perspective, I go on to argue that Moore’s work fosters a desire both to believe in something unknowable and to maintain faith in a goodness that cannot be realized on earth. Moore posits a more demanding hope than one based on the search for truth and namelessness; she gives hope a meaning beyond the feeling that allows people to keep going. Moore’s hope requires a guarded vision of the future, a capacity for visualizing both the real and the imaginary, and, especially, careful observation. Actively manipulating the possibilities of language while recognizing their limitations, Moore transforms hope into an action, a pursuit of ethics and a focus on something other than the self.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/1529
Date19 August 2009
CreatorsSoles, Katharine Elaine
ContributorsCarson, Luke
Source SetsUniversity of Victoria
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RightsAvailable to the World Wide Web

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