Dorothy Wordsworth

Dorothy Wordsworth lived in the shadow of her brother, though she was herself an excellent writer. It was only during the Romantic era that people saw female poets and writers emerging as a legitimate source of literature. Professor Glance was kind enough to make an observation concerning Dorothy Wordsworth's writings that I agree with (to an extent), being that her poetry is inferior to her prose. Certainly her poetry is good, it is without a doubt better than anything I could produce, but it is her prose that is most captivating. Her prose writing shows daily observations of social decline in England, namely the abject poverty many people are forced into and the occupation of begging that they take up. In one of her letters, Dorothy Wordsworth states that she met a woman who "had buried her husband & three children within a year & a half - all in one grave - burying very dear - paupers all put in one place - 20 shillings paid for as much ground as will bury a man - a stone to put over it or the right will be lost" (Wordsworth 295). There are a number of reasons for this woman's children and husband to have died. Perhaps a congenital illness the children inherited from their father or perhaps tuberculosis. Whatever it was that killed them it can be said with some great confidence that their poor state in life had hurried them on their way. What frightens me about the writings of Dorothy Wordsworth is how normal all this seems. It would be hard for me to imagine seeing the kind of poverty she sees without being disturbed by it, yet she seems to accept it. I suppose it is mostly the same, however, as the homeless people seen in large urban areas. Yet, it is still a novelty to someone like me who lives in a town with virtually no homeless.