Dorothy Wordsworth and her influence on the life and work of William Wordsworth with particular emphasis on the "Grasmere Journal 1800-1803" (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, University of Würzburg, course: First Generation Romantics: Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge, language: English, abstract: "[...] Where'er my footsteps turned,
Her voice was like a hidden bird that sang;
The thought of her was like a flash of light
Or an unseen companionship, a breath
Or fragrance independent of the wind."
With these words the poet laureate William Wordsworth describes the role of
his sister Dorothy in his life (Wordsworth:738). Dorothy Wordsworth had never
intended to be published, praised as a writer or seen as more than the loving
companion to the genius William. In 1799, William and Dorothy moved to Grasmere
to live together in their little Dove Cottage. In 1800, Dorothy began to take down her
observations of nature, the incidents happening in and around Grasmere and her
everyday life with her brother. For the next three years, Dorothy proved her unique
ability of observing and describing her surroundings in nature precisely.
In this seminar paper, the importance of Dorothy Wordsworth's writing and
its influence on the works of her famous brother will be examined. Following this
preface, Dorothy's biographical background will be presented. The largest part of the
paper will be the examination of the importance of the Grasmere Journal for the
compositions of William Wordsworth, followed by the fourth chapter, which is about
the general influence Dorothy had on her brother. In the end, a conclusion will sum
up the findings. Due to the large number of findings in literary studies, which
analysed this topic, the seminar paper will show just the major examples of
Dorothy's influence on William and her role in his literary productions.