"Doe, as I have done" : Mary Carey's reciprocal relationship with the divine

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Kelly M. Neil (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Michelle Dowd

Abstract: As Mary Carey experienced numerous stillbirths and deaths of her infant children, she recorded her struggles to come to terms with God's will in a diary comprised of verse and prose. She defines her reciprocal relationship with God as one nearing equality as both she and the Divine barter with children. By bearing children, Carey gains agency from her physical body as she takes in active part in defining and creating their exchange. Carey's writing invites comparison with John Donne and George Herbert, as well as female prophets active in the years of the British Interregnum. Like Donne, Herbert, and female prophets, Carey examines her personal dialogue with God, using the body to condition that dialogue. Though Carey adopts similar techniques and tropes used by metaphysical poets and female prophets, ultimately she depicts a more active role in defining her relationship to God, a role made possible by the agency she gains from the construction of her body in her text. "--Abstract from author supplied metadata.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2007
Keywords
Mary Carey, stillbirths, death, infant, children, God's will, diary, verse, prose, Divine
Subjects
Diaries--Authorship--Religious aspects--Christianity
Women authors, English--17th century

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