And Let the Grove, If Not the Parlour, Stand”

This article focuses on Mary Leapor's "Crumble-Hall" and attempts to shed light on her gendered/class poetics. It argues that the poet uses the house as a metaphor for gendered (male) and social class (gentry) dominance as well as that through memory she assumes (poetic) control over it, demolishes and remakes it, thus forging her female/literary identity. The article also demonstrates that Leapor makes use of both social and psychological space in her poem. By appropriating the country-house convention, she creates a dialectical relationship between external space—the architectural structure; and internal space—the kitchen maid's unconscious; and points out that as the former crumbles, the latter stands because of the significance it acquires. Indeed, her memory of Crumble-Hall not only spawns years of suppression and hardship but also becomes the stepping-stone for her rebellion as well as for the creation of her verse. Her poetic empowerment is projected through the image of the grove surrounding the country house, a multifaceted symbol signifying the interrelation of home, memory, and female literary production. Overall, Leapor re-creates the past glory of the gentry house, depicts her subservient state, conveys her subversion, and finally, establishes her newfound identity as a female poet, all within the framework of fragmented memories. Consequently, she succeeds in promoting the need for gendered and class transgression, in the hope that her sisters can bring about the "crumbling" of their own "house" and remake their "home."KEYWORDS: homememorygenderlaboring-class female poetsLeapor

Aesthetics · Art · Gentry · Identity (music · Innocence · Literature · Poetics · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Subversion · Gender Studies · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Poetry Analysis and Criticism

• The Oxford classical dictionary

  H H Scullard, N G L Hammond•The Oxford classical dictionary•1970

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• The Works of Mary Leapor

  Mary Leapor, Leapor Mrs et al.•The works of Mary Leapor•2003

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• Literary Patronage in England, 1650–1800

  Open Access•Dustin Griffin•Literary Patronage in England,…•1996

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• Mary Leapor

  Donna Landry, Richard Greene•Tulsa Studies in Women s Literature•1994

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• House Life

  Open Access•R Roseman, Sharon R Roseman•American Ethnologist•2000

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