Exterior and Interior Injustice and Selfhood in the Poetry of Mary Robinson

Abstract

Mary Robinson was a writer who made important contributions to the earliest phases of the Romantic movement. Infamous in her own time for having been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but soon forgotten after her death, her work is largely understudied. Seeking to understand the work of this writer, this paper explores the theme of justice in Robinson’s work through a close reading of her poetry and finds her understanding of this theme shifts through her career, but is always connected to identity and selfhood. Her earlier poems suggest injustice is exterior to one’s sense of self and does not inhibit one’s ability to autonomously actualize their identity, while her later views suggest that injustice is interior to the self and can permanently inhibit the formation and actualization of the victim’s identity. Further, this paper connects events in Robinson’s life during the earlier and later phases of her writing that might have resulted in this shift in her views. In light of this research, further investigation of Robinson’s writing is necessary to advance an understanding of her unique voice in particular and the Romantic movement as a whole.